Should your home deliveries help fund walking and biking routes for kids and families? State lawmakers are considering a measure to do just that.
Senate Bill 1124 would establish a “retail delivery safety fee” for stores that make home deliveries.
It would tack on $0.50 to businesses for non-food deliveries, and the fees collected would go into the state’s Safe Routes to School special fund to pay for safety projects.
The bill says the increasing number of deliveries “into residential neighborhoods has led to growing numbers of large trucks speeding through areas where families and children play, walk, and bike to school — raising the risk of dangerous situations, injuries and fatalities.”
The fees would then fund pedestrian and biking infrastructure projects, especially for kids and families.
The measure was heard Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts.
“We believe this bill will begin to address this issue by requiring a small amount of earnings from delivery services go towards a Safe Routes to School program, which supports the installation of pedestrian and bicycling projects within a 1-mile radius of schools,” said Abbey Seitz, Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s director of transportation equity. “For the context of this impact, nearly 80% of residents live within that 1-mile radius of schools.”
The organization noted in a written testimony that there were 102 traffic fatalities statewide last year, and 42% of them involved pedestrians and bicyclists.
It said that delivery vehicles with tall, blunt and sloped front ends were associated with an increased risk for pedestrian fatality.
Supporters also include the Hawaiʻi Bicycle League and the Ulupono Initiative.
But opponents say the fee would essentially be a new tax that could harm local businesses.
Others say the fee would be passed on to customers and would be harmful to working families, kūpuna, and those with disabilities who might rely on delivery services.
“Imposing a per-transaction fee on retail deliveries will increase costs for businesses, many of whom rely on third-party delivery services to reach customers, especially in the post-pandemic economy; lead to higher prices for consumers, as retailers will be forced to pass on the added costs; and be a large disadvantage to our small local businesses, which often lack the economies of scale to absorb additional expenses,” said Tina Yamaki, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaiʻi, in written testimony.
The measure has been deferred until Thursday.