Can Technology Help Cities Manage Curbs Better?

Enter the world of curbside management. As congestion grows, cities have increasingly looked to tech companies to create flexible systems that quickly respond to the ever-changing needs of a street, even in a single day or hour. Supporters say new tools that can more accurately analyze the use of curb space (the “smarter curb” model, as it is called) could reduce traffic, lower carbon emissions and encourage greener modes of travel. Yet while results are promising, age-old problems persist.

Populus, one of the companies embracing that model, uses GPS tracking as its weapon of choice. The platform receives locations of vehicles (where and when they are parking) as well as historical batched trip data (parking patterns over time). Populus then maps a city’s street grids with what it calls “parked events,” enabling cities to better visualize how they could change curb regulations based on demand.