Expanding our Pick-up & Drop-off Data Program
Last fall, we announced that we would be working with Lyft and Uber to share pickup and drop-off information with cities to help inform curbside management.
Our goal was to help cities begin answering big questions about how their streets are being used, and show the value that aggregate data provides in increasing spatial accuracy for mobility information. We worked with cities to design a methodology that shows the relative demand for curb space citywide. To help account for seasonal trends, the data provides snapshots of multiple weeks throughout a year. To identify macro-level corridors of demand, as well as finer-tuned insights to inform where a loading zone could be most impactful, we show the pickup and drop-off demand at both a 10-meter granularity and at the block face level.
Toronto, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles were the first cities to receive information of this type and detail and they are quickly putting it to work. So far, our partner cities have used the insights in a variety of ways:
In Washington D.C, the District has focused on safety improvements focused on the night life economy. Loading zones were set up in DuPont Circle, a major entertainment corridor with bars and restaurants. The goal of the program was to provide dedicated loading and minimize confusion for drivers and passengers alike trying to find each other. Based on the success of the program, DDOT has expanded the pickup/drop-off program and rolled out additional loading zones across the city.
In Toronto, the City is working to understand trends in pickup and drop-off activity and how they impact the larger multimodal transportation network. In particular, the City is studying potential conflict areas between rideshare activity and bicycle corridors, and how the City can evolve their curb management regulations and bike lane designs.
This winter, we’re excited to work with Uber and Lyft to bring even more cities information to help them shape their curbsides.
We are pleased to introduce our next cohort of cities: Seattle, Boston and Chicago! Here is what they have to say:
“Seattle’s excited to use SharedStreets data to better understand how pick-up and drop-off activities differ across our street blocks and neighborhoods. With these new insights, we hope to improve curb allocation and operations and better manage ridehail impacts, especially in our congested downtown core. We’re putting the dataset into practice with the launch of a night life pilot in our Capitol Hill neighborhood focused on maintaining emergency response and improving traffic and safety by designating “Catch Your Ride” loading zones for late night pick-ups.” — Kelly Rula, New Mobility Lead, Seattle DOT
“Boston is looking forward to working with SharedStreets data as we continue to experiment with improving the productivity of one of our most valuable infrastructure resources — the curb. Over the last year, Boston has continued progress on making curb-spaces more flexible, one of the goals laid out in GoBoston2030, through the installation of time-flexible bus lanes and dedicated pick-up/drop-off zones, and this platform allows us to be strategic in the expansion of tools to address congestion and safety issues.” — Kris Carter, Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics
“Chicago is thrilled to see the continued development of SharedStreets and the acceleration of sharing and integration of mobility data, particularly as a partnership between the non-profit, government and private sectors. The user interface SharedStreets has built is impressive and simple to use, and cities, like Chicago, are in need of more tools like this to manage the impacts new mobility services have on our streets.” — Kevin O’Malley, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Chicago DOT
