Harrity proposes a tax on robot deliveries and driverless rides to pay for free transit passes

At-large Councilmember Jim Harrity introduced a bill Thursday that would tax services done by machines instead of people, such as driverless taxi rides and sidewalk delivery robots. Bill 260927 would create an "Automated Services Displacement Tax" in the city code, according to its title in our records of the Oct. 29 session.

If you order food in Center City, you may already have seen the robots. Driverless cars are being tested here too. The bill would put a price on each trip or delivery, and the money would go to free transit passes for low-income residents.

What the bill would do

As described by the Inquirer and WHYY:

• Driverless rides: $1 per ride or 5% of the fare, whichever is greater.
• Robot deliveries: 50 cents per delivery or 5% of the cost.
• Driverless freight on city streets: 3%, the Inquirer reported.
• Companies would register with the city and file quarterly reports. Businesses using automation internally would be exempt.
• The tax would start in January 2028.
• The money would fund the city's Zero Fare program, which gives SEPTA Key cards to low-income residents.

Harrity said the city loses wage and business tax revenue when machines replace workers. "Robots do not pay into the city they work in," he told WHYY. He said Zero Fare is "going to be in next year's budget, and we don't have a funding mechanism for that." He told the Inquirer he could not estimate how much the tax would raise and that his ideal outcome is that the robots are banned and no one pays it. Waymo did not respond to the Inquirer, and Uber declined to comment.

The bill comes months after Council rejected Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's proposed $1-per-ride tax on rideshare trips, which Harrity opposed, the Inquirer reported.

What our records add

• A majority signed on. Our record lists nine co-sponsors with Harrity: Cindy Bass, Curtis Jones Jr., Jamie Gauthier, Jeffery Young Jr., Kendra Brooks, Nicolas O'Rourke, Nina Ahmad, Quetcy Lozada and Rue Landau. With Harrity, that is 10 of 17 members, more than the nine needed to pass a bill. Co-sponsoring is not a vote, and bills often change in committee.
• Not the first robot bill. Young's Bill 260526, introduced May 14, would charge delivery services $1,000 per robot delivery and require registration of e-bike delivery workers. It is still in the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development with no hearing, 169 days later. Our story.
• The state's role. A 2020 Pennsylvania law treats delivery robots as pedestrians and requires PennDOT authorization, Billy Penn has reported. Neither bill's text we have seen addresses how a city tax fits with state rules. The text of 260927 was not yet posted on our site.
• Transit funding is a theme. At-large Councilmember O'Rourke's separate transit access fund bill (260892) was introduced Oct. 22. Our story.

What's next

The bill will be referred to a committee, which has to hold a hearing before it can move. No hearing date has been set. Watch the bill's page for the committee assignment and the full text.