Julian Montague drove around Buffalo, New York and noticed them everywhere.

Tipped over at intersections. Crushed by snowplows in parking lots. Waiting alone at bus stops. Shopping carts had wandered away from their stores.

Montague, an artist, started photographing the wayward carts. He eventually developed a complex classification system sorting his sightings into more than 30 categories.

"A lot of people, the shorthand for shopping carts, they think of homeless people appropriating them and using them," Montague said. "And that is something that happens, but it's such a small percentage of the activity that takes place."

Montague's book, "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification," documented a social problem plaguing retailers and local governments for decades. Abandoned carts are adding to the ruin in neighborhoods, causing environmental damage, and are costly to remove.

A growing number of municipalities are cracking down. In Federal Way, Washington, taking a cart off store property results in a $50 fine. California cities can now charge businesses for rounding up their carts. If retailers in Phoenix don't address the issue, they'll have to install GPS trackers on their carts.

Cities Charging for Cart Retrieval

Phoenix's Neighborhood Services Department spent more than $58,000 to collect over 7,800 carts in fiscal year 2024. The city can charge stores as much as $50 per cart returned. Republican state lawmakers are trying to stop Arizona cities from fining businesses for the service.

In Federal Way, one city employee drives around hunting for abandoned carts. The city charges retailers $25 to return each cart. In 2025, stores paid more than $18,000 for the service. Many business owners chose to let the city dispose of the carts instead.

Federal Way's so-called shopping cart jail has filled up less often in recent years. But constant turnover among staff presents a challenge.

"Eventually, they figure out that they can't just leave their shopping carts in the parking lot overnight, and then things get better. But then that manager ends up being either relocated or they get another job," said Keith Niven, the city's community development director. Starting the cycle all over again.

In California, a bill allowing cities to recoup cart retrieval costs from businesses went into effect in January. State Sen. Dave Cortese said the state has been looking for ways to address the cart problem for more than 25 years.

"It's possible we'll still be overwhelmed by shopping carts even after this bill," Cortese said. "Only time will tell."

Locking Devices and GPS Trackers

Multiple cities passed ordinances requiring retailers to equip carts with locking devices or implement security measures.

GateKeeper Systems sells SmartWheel technology, which automatically locks cart wheels when they leave a designated boundary. Some retailers, like Aldi, use locking systems requiring a quarter to be deposited to access the cart.

Phoenix requires retailers to equip carts with locking devices or hire a cart-retrieval company. Stores had to confirm compliance by January 15 or face penalties ranging from $500 for a first violation to $1,000 for the third violation within three years.

In Prince George's County, Maryland, penalties are stricter. Retailers with more than 20 shopping carts must prevent cart theft or face a $2,000 per day fine.

That law went into effect in August, but enforcement and compliance have been lax, according to County Council Member Wanika Fisher, who proposed the bill.

"They're definitely not in compliance," she said.

Retailers have pushed back over the fines and the cost of implementing cart security.

"It's very unfortunate they are fining a retailer for someone stealing their property," said Craig Greenberg, chief commercial officer at GateKeeper Systems.

Laws Targeting People Who Take Carts

Some locales penalize people who take the carts, raising concerns about the impact on vulnerable populations.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed such a bill into law in 1988, authorizing fines of up to $100. City councils continue to pass them, including in Ogden, Utah and Federal Way, who approved $50 fines for people caught with store carts.

Federal Way Councilmember Hoang V. Tran, who said he was once homeless, called the ordinance "mean-spirited" when it passed in 2022.

"I feel like we are targeting a group of vulnerable people in the community," he said. "I feel like this ordinance is intended to drive homeless people out of the city without providing any meaningful help."

"This is another way that people experiencing homelessness, who are primarily Black and Brown, are going to be arrested, ticketed, locked up and further disconnected from the housing and supports they need," Rabinowitz said. "Whether intentionally or not, these laws will have disproportionate impact against folks who are just trying to survive and sleep outside."

Given that theft is already illegal, lawmakers should focus on the underlying issues that lead people to keep their belongings in shopping carts, said Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center.

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