Food delivery robots are taking over US streets. Knoxville might press pause on the trend

Knoxville might delay the robot takeover for six months.

That is, the Knoxville City Council will vote on an emergency moratorium on personal delivery robots at its Oct. 31 meeting. If it passes, the ordinance will keep companies from deploying the autonomous robots on city streets and sidewalks for six months while the city develops a policy plan.

Companies such as Kiwibot and Nuro are deploying robots in more cities, and Knoxville could be an attractive destination as a midsize college city with a bustling downtown.

The pause would not affect the popular food robots at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, which have become a fixture of campus life since they were launched in March 2022. Other than on UT Knoxville's campus, the cute little bots aren't yet operating in Knoxville.

The robots haven't been welcomed everywhere. Some cities, such as Pittsburgh and Chicago, developed pilot programs to test them while others, like San Francisco and Toronto, moved to restrict or outright ban them over concerns for pedestrian safety.

Knoxville's delivery robot moratorium is modeled after the city's 150-day moratorium placed on electric scooters back in 2018. That delay was followed by a scooter pilot program, which let the city try out its policies with a few companies to avoid debacles like those in Nashville, where scooters were strewn on busy streets and involved in traffic fatalities.

"We're trying to be very proactive with this technology," said Carter Hall, the city's director of strategic policy and programs. "When we see new technology like this on the horizon, we're just trying to get ahead of it."

Robot moratorium would not affect University of Tennessee robots

Robots would continue delivering food to UT Knoxville students on campus. The city entered into an agreement with the robots' maker, Starship Technologies, to ensure they operated only on state-owned campus streets.

"Just because it works well for campus doesn't mean it's going to work well for the rest of the city," Hall said.

A six-month pause would allow the city to speak with local business owners and robot companies, learn more about the technology and study pilot programs in other cities to see if Knoxville could deploy the bots as safely and successfully as UT. If passed, the moratorium would end on April 30, 2024.

The city might choose not to deploy the robots at all if safety concerns arise.

In June, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon launched Vision Zero, a plan to eliminate traffic fatalities on city streets by 2040.

What Tennessee law says about delivery robots

A Tennessee law signed by Gov. Bill Lee in 2020 allows city governments to prohibit delivery robots if they are deemed a risk to public safety.

The law authorizes delivery robots to travel up to 10 mph. It requires the robots not to block traffic, whether cars or pedestrians, to be equipped with lights if operating at night and to be marked with the name and contact of its maker and a unique ID number.

Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville considers food delivery robot pause