When it was still just a taxi company, Uber claimed that traffic would improve as private cars disappeared from the roads. In fact, ride sharing increased traffic congestion in San Francisco by over 30% between 2010 and 2016. How many additional tons of carbon are these newly formed delivery companies pumping into our cities hour after hour? How many thousands of hand-delivered food containers, plastic cups and lids, and disposable utensils are trashed every day?

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The deaths of several delivery drivers in traffic accidents in recent months has drawn attention to the perverse algorithms that incentivize couriers to make quick deliveries while working long hours. Drivers are considered to be self-employed independent contractors who “work with” (not “for”) the delivery companies. This polite fiction, typical of the emerging gig economy, deprives them of the standard protections offered to regular employees (health and labor insurance, sick leave, etc.). The job offers flexibility, but anyone accepting such difficult and dangerous work is likely already a member of the precariat. 

If you are sick or disabled, food delivery can be a necessary service. If you’re just feeling a little lazy, you might want to think twice about the environmental and social consequences of having an overworked courier deliver an individually wrapped meal for you.

1

配送員；快遞公司

courier [ˋkʊrɪɚ] (n.)

2

美食外送服務

food delivery service

3

consumer [kənˋsjumɚ] (n.)

4

乘車共享

5

交通堵塞

6

拋棄式一次性餐具

disposable utensil

7

自僱的；自由業的

self-employed [͵sɛlfɪmˋplɔɪd] (a.) 

8

承包人；承包商

contractor [ˋkɑntræktɚ] (n.) 

9

零工經濟

gig economy

10

勞健保

health and labor insurance

11

病假

sick leave

12

殆危階級；不穩定無產者

precariat [prə`kɛrɪət] (n.)

13

工作過度的；過勞的

overworked [͵ovɚˋwɚkt] (a.)