Commonwealth of Pennsylvania House of Representatives Transportation Committee Public Hearing State Capitol Harrisburg, Pa Irvis
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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING STATE CAPITOL HARRISBURG, PA IRVIS OFFICE BUILDING ROOM G-50 TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2 02 0 1:04 P.M. PRESENTATION ON S.B. 1199 AND H.B. 2699 PERSONAL DELIVERY DRONES BEFORE: HONORABLE TIM HENNESSEY, MAJORITY CHAIRMAN HONORABLE LYNDA SCHLEGEL CULVER HONORABLE MARCIA M. HAHN HONORABLE AARON D. KAUFER HONORABLE JOHN A. LAWRENCE HONORABLE LORI MIZGORSKI HONORABLE GREG ROTHMAN HONORABLE LOUIS C. SCHMITT, JR. HONORABLE MEGHAN SCHROEDER HONORABLE MARTINA A. WHITE HONORABLE MIKE CARROLL, DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN HONORABLE MARIA P. DONATUCCI HONORABLE SARA INNAMORATO HONORABLE STEPHEN KINSEY HONORABLE KYLE J. MULLINS HONORABLE ED NEILSON HONORABLE JENNIFER O'MARA HONORABLE PERRY S. WARREN Pennsylvania House of Representatives Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 2 ALSO PRESENT: REPRESENTATIVE MEGHAN SCHROEDER REPRESENTATIVE BARRY JOZWIAK COMMITTEE STAFF PRESENT: JOSIAH SHELLY MAJORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TORREY HOLLIS MAJORITY RESEARCH ANALYST MATTHEW RUCCI MAJORITY RESEARCH ANALYST MICHELLE WHITMYER MAJORITY ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT MEREDITH BIGGICA DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 3 I N D E X TESTIFIERS * * * NAME PAGE REPRESENTATIVE MEGHAN SCHROEDER PRIME SPONSOR OF H.B. 2699........................... 5 MARK KOPKO DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.............. 10 SAMUEL MARSHALL PRESIDENT, INSURANCE FEDERATION OF PENNSYLVANIA............... 2 9 SCOTT PAUCHNIK, SR. STATE AND LOCAL AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVE, FEDEX CORPORATION................................... 60 MELISSA MORGAN POLICY ANALYST, PENNSYLVANIA STATE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS................................ 89 SUBMITTED WRITTEN TESTIMONY ~k ~k ~k (See submitted written testimony and handouts online.) 4 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 * * * 3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN HENNESSEY: Good afternoon, 4 everyone. Welcome to this public hearing of the 5 Pennsylvania House of Representatives Transportation 6 Committee on personal delivery devices. The hearing bill 7 is on Senate Bill 1199. The prime sponsor is Senator Ryan 8 Aument. There is a similar bill in the House that is House 9 Bill 2699, and that is prime-sponsored by Representative 10 Meghan Schroeder. She is here today, and she will have a 11 statement for us in a few moments. 12 But welcome, and thanks for being here. Today’s 13 meeting is a combination of both an in-person and a remote 14 meeting. I will ask us here in the room to identify 15 ourselves and then we'll announce who has joined us 16 remotely from their offices. My name is Tim Hennessey. 17 I'm the Republican Chair of the Transportation Committee. 18 DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN CARROLL: Mike Carroll, 19 Democratic Chair, Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties. 20 MS. BIGGICA: Meredith Biggica, Executive 21 Director for Chairman Mike Carroll. 22 MR. SHELLY: Josiah Shelly, Executive Director 23 for Chairman Hennessey. 24 REPRESENTATIVE SCHROEDER: Representative Meghan 25 Schroeder from Bucks County. 5 1 REPRESENTATIVE KAUFER: Representative Aaron 2 Kaufer, Luzerne County. 3 REPRESENTATIVE SCHMIDT: Representative Lou 4 Schmidt from Altoona, Blair County. 5 DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN CARROLL: Okay. Thank you. 6 We also are joined by Representative Barry Jozwiak of Berks 7 County. I think I ’ve got everybody there. W e ’re also 8 joined virtually by Representatives John Lawrence, Perry 9 Warren, Kyle Mullins, Martina White, Marcia Hahn, Sara 10 Innamorato, and Lynda Culver. Oh, and Representative Maria 11 Donatucci from Philadelphia. So we have a pretty 12 substantial audience, both live and remotely. 13 If you are participating virtually, the Members 14 who are doing that, and you would like to ask a testifier a 15 question, please email Josiah Shelly, which is 16 [email protected], or Meredith Biggica, the Executive 17 Director for the Democrats, at [email protected]. 18 We've also been joined remotely by Representative 19 Jennifer O'Mara of Delaware County. 20 First, I'll call on Representative Schroeder to 21 make some comments about her House Bill 2699. 22 REPRESENTATIVE SCHROEDER: Good afternoon, 23 Chairman Hennessey, Chairman Carroll, and Members of the 24 Transportation Committee. Thank you for holding a hearing 25 today on Senate Bill 1199 and the companion legislation 6 1 that I have introduced in the House, House Bill 2699, to 2 regulate personal delivery devices, or PDDs, in the 3 Commonwealth. 4 Advances in smart and autonomous technologies 5 have never been more important. The arrival of a global 6 pandemic mandates the continued investment, creation, and 7 deployment of innovative technological tools and resources 8 to respond to consumer demand for contact list delivery, 9 support small businesses, create jobs, and enhance the 10 economy. 11 Personal delivery devices, PDDs, are the exact 12 type of technological advancement that can help businesses 13 and residents of the Commonwealth overcome these challenges 14 of these unprecedented times. PDDs are autonomous robots 15 designed to deliver packages from businesses to consumers 16 and from business to business within a small radius of 17 approximately three to five miles. These zero-emission 18 robots reduce congestion and pollution through the use of a 19 combination of sophisticated machine learning, artificial 20 intelligence, and sensors to travel on sidewalks and on the 21 shoulder of some roadways. 22 PDDs are safe, efficient, environmentally 23 friendly, monitored 24/7, equipped with GPS to navigate 24 around obstacles, and are capable of handling steep slopes 25 and curves, steps, and are stable on all terrains. 7 1 Personal delivery devices, PDDs, are designed to 2 deliver essential goods such as take-out food, groceries, 3 and auto parts from point-of-sale to a nearby home or 4 business in the same day without human contact. These are 5 not deliveries that are normally part of the day-to-day 6 package delivery network for companies such as UPS, Amazon, 7 DHL, or FedEx. 8 The purpose of developing and using PDDs is not 9 to displace traditional delivery service but to help 10 supplement operational and service efficiency for retail 11 businesses and ultimately the consumer. In fact, PDDs will 12 likely create new jobs such as high-tech machine experts, 13 software developers, and remote operators. PDDs are 14 uniquely equipped to become a critical resource available 15 to assist in the delivery of goods as customer demand for 16 goods delivered directly to the home or business continues 17 to increase dramatically. 18 The legislation before us today creates the basic 19 rules for the operation of PDDs in the Commonwealth. This 20 legislation includes requirements that businesses operating 21 PDDs submitted operations plan to PennDOT and maintain a 22 minimum of $100,000 in liability insurance on each device. 23 PDDs must obey the rules that govern pedestrian use of 24 sidewalks, including waiting at crosswalks, yielding to 25 vehicular traffic, and foot traffic. 8 1 Additionally, the legislation will establish 2 equipment requirements that enhance public safety such as 3 requiring each PDD to have unique ID number, a braking 4 system, visual lights, and other features to enhance the 5 visibility and awareness of PDDs. 6 Finally, the legislation incorporates a phaseout 7 of PDDs, which specifies that businesses operating PDDs 8 must have an employee accompany each device until the year 9 2022. Then, beginning in the year 2022, they must employ a 10 remote monitor who can control the device if necessary. 11 To date, the States of Arizona, Florida, Idaho, 12 Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and 13 Wisconsin have all enacted statutes allowing for deployment 14 and regulation of PDDs. 15 PDDs have quickly become a useful resource to 16 deliver food, medicines, essential goods, and supplies to 17 people's homes. 18 Thank you for holding this hearing today. Given 19 the tremendous positive impact that PDDs could have on our 20 Commonwealth, I hope you will join me in support of this 21 legislation, and I look forward to hearing from our 22 testifiers today. Thank you, Chairman. 23 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN HENNESSEY: Thank you, 24 Representative Schroeder. 25 I should announce that if any of our people show 9 1 up and don't have masks, we have masks available here so 2 they can stay. I ’ll ask all the Members and those watching 3 remotely to please mute your microphones unless you’re 4 asking a question. 5 And with that, I ’ll just say welcome to the 6 future. I think that many of the Members have seen the 7 video that we sent out along with the notice to give you an 8 idea of exactly what’s coming our way and apparently what 9 is already in place either as a pilot program or maybe 10 authorized specifically in several of our States in the 11 union. But, nonetheless, it represents the future, 12 especially for someone as old as me who will probably find 13 them a little bit disconcerting, you know, when I ’m 14 approached by robot coming down the sidewalk. Be that as 15 it may, w e ’ll get used to it. W e ’ll all have to get used 16 to it. 17 But as things happen, when drafters draft these 18 bills, they don’t cover everything. You can’t possibly 19 think of all the questions that people might come up with, 20 and that’s why w e ’re holding this informational hearing, to 21 see if we can solicit some comments with regard to Senate 22 Bill 1199 and House Bill 2699. 23 So, with that, you know, get your questions 24 ready. Our first testifier is Mark Kopko from the 25 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. He will be 10 1 testifying virtually and then make himself available for 2 questions. He is the Director of the Office of 3 Transformational Technology. Frankly, I will admit that I 4 didn't know we had an office within PennDOT of 5 transformational technology.