After a pilot program collected nearly 2,000 abandoned shopping carts last month, the City of Albuquerque is seeking $200,000 to fund the project for the rest of the fiscal year.
City officials say the plethora of abandoned shopping carts is a problem that must be addressed. The carts are visible throughout the city, not just in parking lots, but at bus stops, busy intersections and even outside residences. They are not only an eyesore but potentially dangerous if they wind up rolling into a busy street.
“This problem is bigger than what we think it is, and the residents responsible for moving these carts aren’t just the unsheltered: they are your normal, average resident of the city of Albuquerque who is just trying to get their groceries, get on the bus and get back,” Matthew Whelan, director of the Solid Waste Management Department, told KRQE this week.
The City launched a pilot program to collect shopping carts around the city last year, the KRQE report said. Last month, the Solid Waste Management Department reported that more than 1,885 carts had been collected.
“You can see them at apartment complexes, you can see them at bus stops or you can see them on the middle of a sidewalk and there’s not a Walmart anywhere around here." Whelan said in a March KRQE report. “We started this pilot program to collect all the data on where they are coming from, who they are coming from, and how can we get them back to the retailers."
Councilman Louie Sanchez introduced a resolution last year to collect the abandoned carts after receiving complaints from many of his constituents. The pilot project was launched and verified the abandoned carts were truly a problem. The City Council is reviewing a proposed budget to see if there is enough money to fund the program.
The resolution as it is currently drafted does not apply to shopping carts that are used by an individual on a regular basis, contain personal belongings, or are being used as a shelter. When Sanchez first proposed the resolution, he pointed out there are rules that prevent the City from collecting personal property without the owner having a chance to retrieve it.
“Let’s say for example they have their wallet or there was a credit card in there or even a cell phone in there, that shopping cart and they left it for a short period of time,” Sanchez told KRQE last June. “Well, at that point, they may come back to retrieve it.”
The abandoned carts come primarily from major stores such as Walmart, Lowe’s, Hobby Lobby and Target, KRQE said. Businesses can contact the City to pick up their stolen carts.
