City committee hears Teamsters, staff on campus delivery-robot pilots and possible city rules

The Public Health and Safety Committee on April 9 heard public comment from Teamsters members and a staff presentation about autonomous food-delivery robots operating in the University of Minnesota campus pilot and the regulatory choices facing Minneapolis.

Why it matters: union leaders told the committee the technology can be used to undermine jobs and bargaining rights, and staff described operational, safety and data-reporting details from the university pilot and comparable municipal programs—information the committee said it will use to consider whether local guardrails are needed.

Ryan Malloy, a Teamsters Local 320 shop steward, said workers want “proactive regulation by the city so that the employers cannot use this technology to exploit their workers,” and urged the committee to press the university to accept contract language that requires employer-notice and union permission before adopting such technology. Justin Roden, a Teamster cook at Kauffman Memorial Union, called the rollout evidence of what he termed the “Silicon Valleyification of society,” saying the pilot risks replacing long-standing dining jobs and increasing precarity for workers. Jackson Kerr, a Teamsters business agent, described discipline and termination trends in the university’s dining services since a management change and said remarks by a local Chartwells manager—“Robots are better than humans,” as Kerr reported—illustrate why the union seeks binding negotiation language.

Andrew Hawkins, director of the policy and research division in the city auditor’s office, told the committee the university pilot (launched in 2024) is limited to deliveries originating from Kaufman Memorial Union to university-owned buildings and is currently operating about 15 sidewalk-based delivery robots. Hawkins said the pilot covers roughly 40 university-owned buildings; staff reported an average trip time just under 13 minutes, an average distance under half a mile, and that about 22% of trips occur on city streets. Hawkins said the vehicles’ average speed in the pilot is about 4 miles per hour and that the devices are operated with remote human monitoring and winterized “snow tires.”

Hawkins reviewed how other cities regulate such devices: Minneapolis’ pilot licensing fee is $1,000 for up to 30 devices, the city’s permit language caps height at 72 inches, speed at 5 mph, and weight at 50 pounds, and requires initial and then quarterly compliance meetings and monthly non-PII data reporting (trip details, breadcrumb GPS trails and statuses). He said some states have moved to preempt local rules while other municipalities have expanded licensing fees, device limits and reporting requirements. Hawkins said staff will provide a broader policy briefing, including aerial drones, to attach to the legislative file by the end of the week.

Committee members raised worker-protection and surveillance concerns. Council President Payne thanked the workers and staff for the presentation and said the city should study long-term implications. Vice Chair Wansley emphasized proactivity to avoid repeating past policy surprises, citing rideshare rollouts as an example. Hawkins told the committee the city can currently evaluate up to three operators and that he has not received inquiries for additional local operators to date.

The committee did not adopt new rules at the meeting. Chair Jason Chavez directed the clerk to receive and file the public comments and the staff report; Hawkins said a policy brief would be added to the file within days. The committee indicated it will use the staff briefing and the public testimony to weigh next steps, including whether to pursue local regulatory changes or additional pilot conditions.