We hear complaints about delivery trucks on Asbury Park’s Main Street all the time. Some people have complained about them double parking, and some complain about new road diet and bike lanes because big delivery semi-trucks are having trouble parking. So. Are we designing a Main Street for delivery trucks or designing it for people?
Then there is also this problem about delivery trucks…
I admit it. I prefer shopping online for everything, from personal products like my eco-friendly bar shampoo and conditioner, to not so eco-friendly household items like paper towels and toilet paper. And there’s clothing of course, and my ever-growing collection of gym shoes. I’ve learned that the vans and trucks that deliver my overnight orders are rented mid-sized trucks, driven by untrained drivers, and they are causing pedestrian deaths.
Read on:
Every day, one in eight Americans is delivered something they bought on the internet, a number that’s expected to double within five years. …the growing number of U.S. deliveries and the price of that added congestion is rarely addressed in conversations about increasing emissions, traffic, or deaths—all issues that can be curbed by smaller delivery vehicles.
Delivery trucks are hurting cities. Can making them smaller help?
A chilling Amazon investigation shows the importance of “rightsizing” vehicles on our streets
“From waste disposal and utility trucks to delivery vans, large vehicles provide many of the basic services our communities depend on,” says Tom Maguire, sustainability director of San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency, in the NACTO report. “While large vehicles are a small fraction of vehicles on our streets, they are disproportionately involved in fatal crashes.”
Allowing large vehicles in cities creates a vicious circle, notes the NACTO report, as accommodating trucks becomes a reason to build wider streets that are more dangerous for all users. Larger vehicles are also more difficult to maneuver, meaning many trucks must double-park on city streets to make deliveries, blocking bike lanes and sidewalks, which has contributed to recent cyclist and pedestrian deaths.”
Read about it:
https://www.curbed.com/2019/9/11/20858457/amazon-delivery-vehicles-deaths-emissions
