Boston Mayor Michelle Wu proposed an ordinance that would crack down on illegal activity from food delivery drivers who ignore traffic rules and create “dangerous conditions” by zipping around city streets on scooters and mopeds.

The ordinance was filed with the City Council and announced Monday by Wu. It follows a letter sent last June by the city’s police commissioner and chief of streets to executives from DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Technologies, with a warning that continued lawlessness from their drivers would be met with stiffer penalties.

“What we’ve been hearing from residents all over the city is that delivery drivers on mopeds and scooters have been creating dangerous conditions on our roads,” Wu said at a press conference in the Back Bay. “In the past year, we’ve received more than 100 311-reports from residents about mopeds running red lights, riding on sidewalks, weaving in and out of traffic, going the wrong way down one-way roads, speeding down residential streets and causing collisions.

“These practices aren’t just against the law. They put our residents’ lives at risk.”

Wu said the ordinance is aimed at ensuring that all national third-party delivery platform companies maintain a valid permit from the city and that those companies “take proactive steps” to “crack down on dangerous operations by delivery workers using motorcycles, mopeds and motorized scooters.”

More specifically, it requires those delivery companies to obtain umbrella liability insurance coverage for all workers utilizing their platform in order to receive a permit to operate in Boston. The policy must cover all workers, regardless of what vehicle they use to make deliveries, Wu wrote in a letter to the City Council.

The ordinance also requires delivery platforms to provide the city with data on food delivery trips in Boston. That data would include the types of vehicles used to complete deliveries in the Hub, which areas experience the highest number of orders, and where and how quickly trips are completed, Wu wrote.

It will further look to secure data from companies that documents “unsafe and illegal operations by delivery drivers” on Boston roads, which the mayor says will ensure safer streets and “help the city hold these companies accountable.”

“Food delivery apps bring business and convenience benefits to Boston,” Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge said. “However, these benefits do not have to come at the expense of public safety and well-functioning roads. They do not have to come at the expense of people feeling safe walking in their neighborhoods.

“The price of convenience cannot be fear, injury and chaos on our streets,” he added. “The commonsense regulations that we are proposing can preserve the benefits of food delivery while helping keep our streets safe and moving.”

A DoorDash spokesman pushed back in a statement, saying the proposed ordinance would “miss the mark in its efforts to create safer streets,” and added that the company has already made efforts to improve operations.

“We’re committed to playing our part in helping cities like Boston thrive, while promoting safety in their busiest neighborhoods,” DoorDash spokesman Andy Hoglund said. “That’s why we’ve worked at the encouragement of the city to get car Dashers off the road in efforts to reduce congestion, and supported its oversight and enforcement on dangerous riding to help keep everyone who shares Boston’s streets safe.”

“However, this ordinance would clearly miss the mark in its efforts to create safer streets, doing little to improve safety for Dashers or the public and creating new costs that would add price hikes for Boston families along the way,” he added. “We plan to continue working closely with Boston policymakers to help them understand the consequences of this ordinance and find more practical solutions that would actually help ensure more vibrant and safer streets for everyone.”

The mayor’s ordinance will be introduced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting and likely referred to a subcommittee for a hearing.

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Councilor Sharon Durkan, who represents the Back Bay and attended the day’s press conference, said the measure has her support.

“For far too long, third-party delivery platforms have operated as if rules don’t apply to them,” Durkan said. “Their business models have prioritized speed and profit over safety and accountability, leaving residents, pedestrians and even their own drivers to deal with the consequences of reckless and lawless behavior on our streets, but today, our mayor has offered a solution.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald, File)
Boston City Councilor Sharon Durkan (Matt Stone/Boston Herald, File)