Signal 3: How to Manage the Curbside Smarter and Better

Imagine you are heading to the office on the regular Monday morning. When you are finally on the street near your office, suddenly a city bus stops and drops off some passengers. There is still time, so you patiently wait. As you are ready to go, a UPS truck stops to deliver packages and unfortunately there is no way around. You have to wait again.

Such scenario is pervasive in densely populated cities, because public buses, delivery trucks, rideshare vehicles like Uber and Lyft, and personal vehicles often use the curbside for picking up and dropping off packages and passengers, leading to traffic congestion. In commercial areas, curbside congestion is alleviated by loading zones. However, in residential areas, because of one-way and narrow streets, delivery trucks and ride-share vehicles have to stop in the middle of the street, which block traffic and worsen congestion.

Thus, how can cities better manage the curbside? I suggest delivery companies should install smart self-service parcel pickup machines to reduce stopping time of delivery trucks in the curbside. And cities should leverage cloud technology, which can implement flexible curbside management by combining diverse data sources. For example, during the rush hour, a curbside only can be allocated for transit services. And during the off-peak hours, it could be allocated for delivery trucks and rideshare pick-ups. Curbside management must be based on different blocks.

Source: Pyzyk, K. (2018, February 20). Managing the curbside in the age of e-commerce and congestion. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/curbside-ecosystem-e-commerce-congestion-ups/517347/