Delivery drivers help report problems along streets

Food delivery drivers in Beijing’s Chaoyang district recently received new identities as “street watchers” to find and report problems related to city management.

Matters related to garbage piles and unlicensed traders blocking roads can be submitted through a platform on WeChat, Guo Xun, secretary of the Communist Youth League in the district, said on Wednesday.

So far, about 1,000 delivery drivers have received such identities, he said.

“Delivery drivers constantly go through alleys and streets. They can serve as mobile patrols for the urban management department,” Guo said. “Their participation will improve the efficiency of city governance.”

The supervisory area for all the street watchers covers 43 streets and alleys in Chaoyang district. Issues submitted by riders will be sent to the appropriate departments, which will provide solutions and give feedback to them within 48 hours.

Sun Weigang, a 37-year-old delivery driver for Meituan Waimai, an online food platform, volunteered to be a street watcher in January. Based in Panjiayuan neighborhood along the East Third Ring road, Sun’s delivery area ranges from the East Fourth Ring to the West Second Ring road, covering nearly 20 streets.

Leaving his hometown in Yingkou, Liaoning province, a year ago, he came to the capital because he could earn more money. Working 12 hours on average per day, Sun said he seldom has leisure time.

“But taking pictures along the road is easy for me, not to mention it can provide information for a better city environment,” Sun said.

He once found a pile of waste construction materials nearby the Panjiayuan subway station and took pictures. Unexpectedly, he received details about how the problem was resolved from the local environment department the next day.

In April 2017, Beijing’s housing commission released a three-year action plan to improve the management of minor hutong and streets in the capital’s central area.

Yan Jianfeng, director of regulation for the municipal urban management commission, said the aim is to make the capital a better place by creating a long-term management mechanism.

As of the end of last year, 29,882 street chiefs had been recruited in Beijing and have been on duty to protect the capital’s appearance, improve the living environment and raise urban management standards, according to the city’s urban management commission.