DoorDash plays an increasingly important role in our cities and daily lives. Our platform connects consumers with their favorite stores, reduces congestion by promoting more efficient and sustainable transportation like bikes and scooters, and provides a fast, flexible way for millions to earn. In short, we believe DoorDash helps make cities — from Boston to New York City, Washington, D.C., and across the country — work better.
As our impact in these cities continues to grow, we're deeply committed to playing our part in helping them thrive while promoting safety in our busiest neighborhoods. We have absolutely zero tolerance for dangerous driving by anyone who uses our platform, and have been working collaboratively with cities to support their enforcement efforts when anyone is breaking the law so that we can help keep everyone safe.
To that end, we’re announcing a set of new actions in cities, beginning with an initial rollout in Boston, to help policymakers step up oversight and enforcement around these challenges and allow everyone to continue to safely share our streets.
Dedicated Escalation Channel For Law Enforcement
The overwhelming majority of Dashers do the right thing and like all drivers must follow the rules of the road. If they don’t, then they face consequences — just like anyone else. No matter what type of vehicle a Dasher is using, our standards remain the same: there is no place for reckless or dangerous behavior that puts themselves or pedestrians in harm's way.
That’s why we have an established and streamlined process for law enforcement authorities to work with our Law Enforcement Response Team, and will be creating a dedicated escalation channel and point of contact with the Boston Police Department to make it quicker and easier to process valid legal record requests and allow them to get the information they need when they need it. This includes considering removing platform access for anyone who we find out is breaking traffic laws.
Accelerating Account Identity Verification
As part of our ongoing screening processes, we require Dashers to regularly re-verify their identity. Failure to complete this security process will result in removal of access to the platform. Dashers are currently prompted to confirm their identity by submitting a real-time selfie, which is then compared to their previously-submitted, valid government ID photo. Over 100,000 Dashers are required to complete this process and re-verify their identity each week.
To further crack down on account sharing, we are stepping up this enhanced re-verification effort to require Dashers in Boston and elsewhere to prevent unauthorized access to the platform. By the end of 2024, Dashers in Boston showing signals of account sharing will need to go through this process. Our goal is to remove access to those who are unable to verify their identity or who are wrongly using someone else's account.
Public Safety Announcement Campaign
We regularly send resources, tips, and guidance to Dashers — in multiple languages – in order to help make sure they are aware of local regulations and how to stay safe while dashing. In partnership with cities, including Boston, we will be rolling out a new PSA campaign to share guidance from public safety agencies that offer easy ways for all Dashers who use two-wheel vehicles to understand requirements around vehicle registration, as well as warn against breaking local laws like riding on sidewalks where it’s not allowed. We will remind Dashers that failing to comply with local laws or our standards could lead to removal from our platform.
These steps represent just the latest of our ongoing work with policymakers, community advocates, and other stakeholders to better understand their concerns and take them head on. However, we know there is still much more work to be done. We stand ready to work with policymakers, transportation advocates, community leaders, and other stakeholders to help solve these complex problems and achieve our shared goals in a way that keeps our cities safer and our local economies stronger.
