As of August 14, Meituan reports that more than 20 cities are currently assessing the conditions for piloting its "Red Light Stop Timer" feature, which was recently road-tested in Beijing.

On August 15, Meituan held a rider consultation meeting in Beijing to discuss the feature's accuracy in compensating for red light delays, other abnormal time-consuming events, and its impact on rider income and user experience. The platform also plans to implement positive incentives for not running red lights in over 200 cities this year.

"Rider groups were buzzing about this feature yesterday," said Liu Jian, a delivery rider in Chaoyang District. "Now that it's actually implemented, it relieves the psychological pressure during deliveries. Some intersections have red lights lasting up to 180 seconds, and a single delivery route passes through multiple traffic lights. Previously, riders had to make up time in later stages, which made us anxious. With the red light stop timer, the waiting time feels much less stressful."

Yang Chenguang, head of the Meituan "Red Light Stop Timer" project in Beijing, explained that compensation is calculated based on the actual intersections passed and waiting times, not simply accumulated by order count. In response to rider suggestions for real-time accumulated compensation display, audio reminders, and a main delivery page entry, the platform will further evaluate and optimize these features, and improve the anomaly reporting mechanism.

During the meeting, riders repeatedly cited time bottlenecks such as slow restaurant preparation, inaccurate navigation addresses, elevator waiting times in office buildings, community entry, and temporary traffic controls. Liu Jian suggested that riders encountering road controls could report them by taking a photo through the AI safety assistant "Tuanbao," prompting the system to alert subsequent riders to take detours.

In response, Meituan stated that, following initiatives like the "Food Preparation Bao" and "Rider-Friendly Communities," the platform has already eliminated factors such as walking time in communities without elevators, restaurant preparation delays, high-rise elevator waiting, and remote community access from rider performance evaluations in 2025. The company will continue to refine product rules and provide precise services.