Boston Delivers
A neighborhood-friendly delivery service powered by electric cargo bikes
Boston Delivers is a neighborhood delivery service for local businesses in Allston and the surrounding area. Instead of motor vehicles, packages will be delivered by electric cargo bikes. The Boston Transportation Department has partnered with Net Zero Logistics to carry out this delivery service. Net Zero Logistics will provide the electric cargo bikes, make the deliveries, and coordinate delivery logistics. This pilot program aims to test and promote a more environment and traffic friendly way of delivering goods.
Deliveries can take place between:
- A participating local business and their customer
- A participating local business and another business
- A supplier to a participating local business
Boston Delivers is an 18-month Pilot program funded by The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. We plan to launch Boston Delivers in Summer of 2023.
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If you are interested in participating in Boston Delivers as a business, or if you have questions, please email our program manager:
Participate in Boston Delivers
Why participate?
- This a green, environmentally friendly way to serve your customers.
- The City will promote the participating businesses.
- This pilot encourages consumers to buy goods locally.
- This pilot aims to decrease congestion in the neighborhood.
- The City is subsidizing delivery costs for 8 participating businesses for one year. The deadline to apply for the subsidy is December 19th
Interested in participating? Fill out this application form!
How will it work?
We will invite businesses to join the pilot program. Before launch, each participating business will meet with the Boston Delivers team to decide on a delivery plan and schedule. Once the program launches, participating businesses will be able to notify the Boston Delivers team when a delivery needs to be made. A delivery associate will arrive at the business or another pre-specified location, pick up the package, and deliver it to its destination on e-cargo bike.
What kinds of deliveries does Boston Delivers offer?
Boston Delivers offers:
- Priority Service: Pickup and delivery of package(s), occurs within two (2) hours of request.
- Same Day Service: Pickup and delivery of package(s) occurs within the same day of request.
- Distribution Service: Packages are picked up one day, and delivered the next day. Best suited for businesses with a high delivery volume.
- Scheduled Service: Packages are picked up and delivered at predetermined times either same or next day
- Dedicated Service – Delivery personnel are exclusively assigned to a business. The business is charged on a daily/hourly basis vs per delivery. This service is applicable for on-demand deliveries.
Businesses can request delivery by:
- Using an online portal
- Calling a Customer Service Hotline
- API integration with the delivery provider's online order processing system.
- This is an environmentally friendly way to shop locally and support the City’s efforts to decrease neighborhood congestion.
- You may receive free delivery by ordering from a participating business!
- Check back on this page to see the participating businesses and how you can order from them.
Financial Assistance for Participating Businesses
What is the delivery subsidy and who is eligible to receive it?
The City will subsidize delivery costs for 8 businesses for 1 year. Those businesses will receive between $500-$1500 a month to cover delivery fees associated with Boston Delivers. The criteria for eligible businesses are:
- Business must be located in Allston or make deliveries into Allston, AND
- Employ fewer than 100 employees AND
- Be a women-owned business, and/or a minority owned business, and/or a non-profit
Businesses that will use Boston Delivers to replace current deliveries made by car or truck will be prioritized
hOW WILL THE SUBSIDY BE DISTRIBUTED?
Subsidized businesses will fall into one of three tiers. Those tiers are:
- Tier 1: 3 businesses will receive up to $500/month each to cover delivery fees. Tier 1 businesses must indicate readiness to perform 20-80 deliveries a month.
- Tier 2: 3 businesses will receive up to $1000/month each to cover delivery fees. Tier 2 businesses must indicate readiness to perform at least 80 deliveries a month.
- Tier 3: 2 businesses will receive up to $1500/month each to cover delivery fees. Tier 3 businesses must indicate readiness to perform at least 150 deliveries a month.
Become a participating business!
Interested in becoming a participating business? Fill out the form below! The deadline to apply for the delivery subsidy is December 19th. Businesses interested in using this service without the subsidy can apply anytime.
Boston Delivers Goals
Our Goals8 businesses will receive up to $1,500 a month to cover delivery fees associated with Boston Delivers. This may help businesses provide a delivery service where they may not already offer one, and decrease costs for businesses that currently offer delivery. It will also encourage consumers to buy goods locally.
The City aims to right-size delivery vehicles to better fit Boston’s streets. Many of Boston’s streets were not originally designed to accommodate large vehicles. Often, delivery vehicles stop in bus, bike, and vehicle travel lanes. This results in congestion that affects the whole transportation network.
The City aims to improve safety by reducing the:
- size
- speed, and
- environmental impacts of commercial delivery vehicles.
The number of delivery vehicles has grown significantly. This has led to more conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles, which has increased the potential for serious injury and death.
This pilot program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing motor vehicle trips with e-cargo bike trips. The rise in the use of on-demand delivery services has led to more vehicles delivering fewer goods per trip. These vehicles are increasing pollution, noise, and congestion. Using e-cargo bikes for last-mile delivery may be a solution.
Get Connected
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Updates and Announcements
UpdatesA consolidated RFP question-and-answer document for interested vendors is available online and on the supplier portal.
Potential vendors will be able to access the RFP on the supplier portal and searching EventID EV00010559.
The $492,286 in funding will support the Boston Transportation Department to pilot a e-cargo bike delivery program.
