Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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Starship Technologies, the U.S.-Estonian maker of autonomous sidewalk delivery robots, announced in January that it had completed 1 million deliveries since its founding in 2014. This is remarkable growth as it was only six months earlier that the company had completed 500,000 deliveries. While much of this growth has been driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting desire for safe, contactless delivery, it also reflects the rapid evolution of technologies like robotics, computer vision and machine learning that are creating new opportunities for innovation in the use of autonomous robots for last-mile delivery.
Unfortunately, the laws and regulations for these technologies have not always kept pace in the U.S. — in some cases, policymakers are even erecting barriers to the deployment of sidewalk robots. State and local governments have generally taken one of four different approaches to these technologies.
The majority have simply done nothing. Indeed, this is a compelling option for policymakers who want to “do no harm.” Whether intentional or because lawmakers are focused on other priorities, wait-and-see is a perfectly reasonable option for regulating nascent industries that are still developing and present no obvious severe and irreversible risks.
I didn't realize that this was a thing. Apparently it is. I will probably not see it for a long time, if ever, where I am at. This is supposed to be only opposed by those that are working those jobs. The author of the article doesn't provide any evidence that this creates higher paying jobs.
Unfortunately, the laws and regulations for these technologies have not always kept pace in the U.S. — in some cases, policymakers are even erecting barriers to the deployment of sidewalk robots. State and local governments have generally taken one of four different approaches to these technologies.
The majority have simply done nothing. Indeed, this is a compelling option for policymakers who want to “do no harm.” Whether intentional or because lawmakers are focused on other priorities, wait-and-see is a perfectly reasonable option for regulating nascent industries that are still developing and present no obvious severe and irreversible risks.
Lawmakers Should Allow Sidewalk Delivery Robots to Stay
The use of robots from companies like Starship Technologies for last-mile deliveries skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and legislators would do well to make them easier to deploy on city sidewalks.
www.governing.com
I didn't realize that this was a thing. Apparently it is. I will probably not see it for a long time, if ever, where I am at. This is supposed to be only opposed by those that are working those jobs. The author of the article doesn't provide any evidence that this creates higher paying jobs.