Fremont City Council Meeting: 02/17/26 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Public Works
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Presentations
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5643) DOC ID: 5643
Updated: 2/12/2026 2:42 PM by Dina Lewis Page 1
DOORDASH DELIVERY ROBOTS - Receive Presentation and Accept Report on Permit Application to Allow DoorDash to Test and Operate Food Delivery Robots in Fremont Under Specified Conditions to Ensure Public Safety and Community Support.
Contact Persons:
Name: Hans Larsen Donovan Lazaro
Title: Public Works Director Economic Development Director Div/Dept: Public Works Economic Development
Department
Phone: 510-494-4722 510-284-4024
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: The purpose of this report is to facilitate City Council and community awareness of a proposed innovation partnership project with DoorDash to test and operate an automated delivery service with small robotic vehicles using bike lanes, sidewalks and local streets in the Downtown/Central, Centerville, and Irvington areas of Fremont.
BACKGROUND: Automated delivery platforms using robots have grown in popularity over the past few years with services launched in the areas of Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami. Systems initially involved robots traveling slow speeds on sidewalks (5 mph or less) and are now evolving to include bike lanes with speeds up to 20 mph.
Sponsors of these systems include Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash.
DoorDash is a Bay Area based company and has an in-house robotics and automation division. Its new generation of DoorDash robots named “Dot” is now being manufactured in Fremont and the “Dot” robots were launched for service in Arizona last year. DoorDash has also tested this service in other bay area cities, including San Ramon and Concord and is interested in starting up a service in Fremont. Fremont has a strong history of partnering with local companies to demonstrate ‘home grown’ technology in the City. A video of the DoorDash “Dot” robot is provided in the WEBLINK section of this report.
The DoorDash “Dot” robots have similar technology systems used by autonomous vehicles with multi-modal sensors, including lidar, radar, and cameras to support safe navigation around pedestrians, cyclists, and other users of the public right-of-way. Operations are supported by continuous remote monitoring with trained operators able to intervene and assume control when needed.
The Mayor and most City Council members have seen a display of the DoorDash “Dot” robot at recent events related to Fremont Manufacturing Week (October 2025) and the Alameda County Conference of Mayors (January 2026), hosted by Fremont.
For this City Council agenda item, representatives from DoorDash are planned to participate in the presentation and address any questions from the City Council and members of the public.
Council Staff Report (ID # 5643) Meeting of February 17, 2026 Updated: 2/12/2026 2:42 PM by Dina Lewis Page 2
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: Over the past month, staff from Economic Development and Public Works have collaborated on a proposal with DoorDash to introduce “Dot” to the Fremont community through a measured set of steps that ensure public safety and community support. Using the established Public Works process for permitting encroachments into the street right-of-way, a streamlined and phased permit application and approval process has been developed that allows DoorDash robots to use City bike lanes, sidewalks and streets subject to specific conditions.
General Conditions – Based on DoorDash’s experience with automated delivery in other cities, they have a standardized Operating Plan and Incidence Response Procedures. The robots would have a maximum travel speed of 5 mph on sidewalks, and 20 mph within bike lanes and along neighborhood streets.
Proposed Initial Service Area and Primary Streets – The proposed Initial Service area generally includes the Downtown/Central, Centerville, and Irvington areas of Fremont and is bounded within I-880, Alameda Creek, Mission Boulevard, I-680, and Auto Mall Parkway, with no travel along or across State Highways, since permission would be needed from Caltrans. The primary corridors used for robot travel are proposed to be Fremont Boulevard, Walnut Avenue, Mowry Avenue, Stevenson Boulevard, and Paseo Padre Parkway, where Fremont has a well-developed network of wide bikeways that are physically separated from traffic with sidewalk-level bikeways or have separation using plastic posts or painted buffer areas.
Phase 1A: Coordination and Mapping – Upon City permit approval, DoorDash would conduct a coordination process to introduce the “Dot” robots to the Fremont community that would involve comprehensive stakeholder engagement including bike and pedestrian community groups; local businesses; and City staff (Police, Fire, Maintenance, Public Works). Also, work would begin to map the City within the Initial Service area to render a real-time 3D representation of the street environment to support safe navigation by “Dot” around pedestrians, cyclists, and other users of the right-of-way, along with paths of travel to connect with participating businesses. During Phase 1A, expected to take approximately 2 months, DoorDash would only operate up to 3 robots for community engagement, testing and demonstration purposes, during which robots are chaperoned by local operators.
Phase 1B: Initial Operations – Based on the experiences and feedback from Phase 1A, an amended permit would be issued by Public Works to allow up to 30 robots to operate autonomously within the Service Area and with the capability to be operated remotely as needed.
Other Permit Conditions – The term of the permit would extend for approximately 1 year, through March 2027. The permit can be revoked by the City at any time in the event of non-compliance with DoorDash commitments or permit conditions, any safety issues, significant public concern, or direction by City Manager or City Council. Continued ongoing operations and expansion of service (Phase 2) would be subject to a separate review and approval process.
FISCAL IMPACT: The proposed permit with DoorDash to test and initiate an autonomous delivery service in Fremont includes cost recovery provisions for staff services, insurance requirements, indemnification, and a non-liability clause in the City’s interests. The DoorDash autonomous delivery service has the potential for positive economic value for Council Staff Report (ID # 5643) Meeting of February 17, 2026 Updated: 2/12/2026 2:42 PM by Dina Lewis Page 3
Fremont restaurants, residents/customers, other businesses, and for Fremont-based production of the DoorDash robots.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The recommended action of receiving an informational report has no physical impact on the environment and is exempt from environmental review.
WEBLINK:
Video of DoorDash “Dot” Robot and Automated Delivery Service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqyYo8Q6CSE
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Receive presentation and accept report.
2. Provide input to staff on issues to consider.