Why I Joined Populus To Help Cities Manage the Curb
After a decade of working in city government in New York, I am thrilled to join the Populus team as their Head of Policy to support curb management strategies in cities around the world. In my time at the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), the agency in New York that regulates the taxi and for-hire industry, I saw firsthand how data could be used to advance the city’s goals for safer, more equitable, and more sustainable streets. I’m excited to now leverage a platform to share those lessons with cities and mobility companies to accelerate more efficient use of curb space and our city streets.
I was initially drawn to the TLC in 2012 because of how the agency was effective in harnessing data and information to rethink how they used public space. The trip data available from yellow taxicabs had been used to measure the impacts of turning space designated for cars in Times Square over to pedestrians. Back then, pilots like the pedestrianization of Times Square had to show a meaningful improvement in vehicle speeds to justify permanently taking space away from cars. At the time, I was inspired by the use of that data to make the case for a change that made the city more livable and vibrant.
I started at TLC shortly after Uber launched in New York. Since TLC licensed the vehicles that were working with Uber, our agency was able to track the number of vehicles and saw their numbers increase from a few hundred in 2012 to a few thousand in 2013. Soon, there were more Ubers than taxis (which still number around 13,500). Beyond that, we knew little about how or where they operated.
Later that year, the TLC passed rules requiring all for-hire services (including Uber, Lyft, Via, and 800 other companies) to report data on the trips they performed. In my time at TLC, I saw that ridehailing companies were willing to share additional data when policy and business goals aligned. In 2017, the TLC proposed new requirements for companies to improve the availability of wheelchair-accessible vehicles for people with disabilities. Since we would use data that were already being reported by companies, this meant we would only be able to measure the impact of the policy by observing the availability of these vehicles (but not the resulting service, which is what we really cared about).
The ridehailing companies, coming together with the traditional car service companies, proposed an alternative demand-based accessibility program with new wait-time data to better measure success. That additional data allowed the TLC to directly compare how long passengers using wheelchairs have to wait for a ride compared to everybody else. Working together with stakeholders, we were able to set goals which increase over time the percentage of accessible trips with wait times under 15 minutes, leading to actual improvements in service for people with disabilities.
Although many cities do not have the ability to access data from ridehailing and delivery companies, cities across the country have recently seized the moment with the arrival of e-scooters in 2018 to require data from mobility companies. Just two years in, this data has already helped cities better manage their streets, using data to ensure equitable distribution of scooters and to plan dedicated parking areas for bikes and scooters.
Understanding how bikes and scooters use the public right-of-way only provides insight into a fraction of the use of our streets, however. Competition for the curb is fierce today, not just due to an increase in pick-ups and drop-offs by ridehailing services, but also due to the increase in package deliveries resulting from an e-commerce boom. Today, much of the curb is still unpriced and used as free (or underprice) parking by personally-owned vehicles. This competition leads to various safety and congestion issues. Cyclists and scooter riders must navigate around vehicles which block dedicated lanes, and passengers with disabilities have trouble entering or exiting vehicles when access to the curb is cut off. Vehicles which are double-parked in travel lanes also contribute to congestion.
Cities see the issues around the curb and are starting to experiment. Last year, New York City launched a Residential Loading Zone pilot to test dedicated shared areas for deliveries and ridehailing pick-ups and drop-offs, and Transportation For America is working with a group of cities doing curb management pilots to allow them to experiment collectively and learn from each other. Understanding how the streets in our cities are used is key to rationalizing the curb. Similar to the Times Square project over a decade ago, cities have a better chance of making changes that are likely to take away space from private cars if they have the information to make the case.
Like the prior debate in New York around expanding accessible ride options, companies have a shared interest with cities in taming the curb and could help make the case by providing data on the current use of the curb. If that information is used to designate space at the curb, ridehailing drivers could avoid blocking a traffic lane or a bike lane to pick up or drop off a passenger. Dedicated pick-up areas can also facilitate pooled rides and increase the efficiency of those services. Delivery companies could avoid hefty parking fines while continuing to meet growing demand. The limits to growth for new mobility passenger and freight services is largely tied to the ability of cities to create space for them.
I’m excited to support new solutions for effective curb management to help cities and service providers make the case together for more efficient allocation of curb space. We’re looking for innovative city leaders and mobility companies to partner with us — reach out to learn more! 👋🏼
About Populus
At Populus, we’re helping cities and private mobility providers deliver safe, efficient, and equitable streets through better data. Our core platform, Populus Mobility Manager, integrates real-time data from multiple operators (shared bikes, scooters, and cars) for cities from coast to coast. Founded by transportation PhDs from MIT and UC Berkeley, the Populus team combines over 30 years of experience building software for (and with) public agencies to plan for the future.
Are you a city or mobility operator looking for advanced data software solutions? Join us for an upcoming webinar on the opportunities to harness new mobility data for transportation policy and planning, or download our resources online.
