As curbside space becomes more precious, Declan Hollingworth, Product Analyst at Arcadis discusses how IoT-enabled solutions help to monitor curbsides
The demand for curbside space in modern cities has been rapidly increasing in recent years, with the scarce space under pressure from the meteoric rise of home delivery and ride-sharing services, bike lines, EV charging stations, and numerous other unique demands.
With such an increase in demand comes the potential for a mountain of user data to be generated that can be pulled and analysed by city planners seeking to make data-driven policy decisions to enhance the user experience at the curbside.
In many cases, the source of this demand data comes from IoT devices and sensors monitoring activity directly at the curb.
Of the range of curbside demand and mobility data sources available to city managers, parking transaction data is at the forefront. Often the easiest and most efficient method of collecting behavioural parking data, parking transactions can be used to extract patterns and outliers in the way people use city parking resources. Whether the goal is to increase turnover in curb side use or to boost revenue, transactional data can be used to inform a wide range of planning objectives, including setting future pricing models and structuring by-law schedules.
Other potential curbside data sources include:
IoT sensors
Many cities now have IoT sensors installed along the curbside that can monitor vehicle presence and parking duration, providing a real-time data feed for live monitoring, as well as historical behaviour data for analysis. For example, in a recent and ongoing project in Arlington County, Virginia, a sensor company called Eleven-Xhas installed 5000+ in-ground sensors across the city with the SaaS product CurbIQ serving as the data integrator. Being able to capture exactly when cars are arriving and departing is crucial to making data-driven changes to curbside regulations.
Cameras
Mounted cameras are used as another method of IoT data collection to monitor curbside and off-street parking usage. Typically, a number of network-connected cameras would be mounted in a fixed position at the entrance or exit of a parking lot, or facing a target area on the curbside to track the number of vehicles entering and/or leaving the facility, but the market is now shifting with more advanced cameras being mounted to vehicles to gather data for an expanded area.
Other data feeds
There is really no limit to what data sources can be aggregated to help tell the story at the curbside. Portable parking enforcement terminals, micro-mobility services like e-scooter and bike share programs, and field surveys are just a few more examples of additional IoT-gathered data points that can be integrated into the overall decision-tree system.
By aggregating data from transactions, sensors, cameras, and other sources into a central platform, city planners can gain a truly holistic view of the curbside activities and patterns taking place in their city. Using a centralised data platform enables them to analyse data efficiently, identify trends, and make informed decisions to optimise curbside management strategies.
The integration of curb management software with IoT technology offers range of benefits for cities to improve urban mobility, as exemplified by digital curbside management platforms like CurbIQ. Such benefits include:
Facilitation of dynamic pricing models
By leveraging curbside usage from sensors and cameras, cities can implement dynamic pricing strategies to manage demand, allocate resources efficiently, and optimise revenue generation. For example, if two adjacent areas have noticeably different levels of usen, a city might opt to increase the parking rate in the higher utilised area to try and drive some of the traffic into adjacent, less utilised areas.
Targeted enforcement
If a city integrates both its parking sensor and transactional data, they would then be able to analyse the difference in actual vs. paid-for usage at the curbside. By looking at the difference in occupancy between the two sources, cities could identify problem areas where occupancy is far greater than what was paid for. Enforcement could also then be targeted to these areas to try and crack down on parking infractions.
Enhanced operational efficiency
Access to comprehensive curbside data enables cities to streamline operations, allocate parking spaces effectively, and reduce congestion through better traffic management strategies. Curbside management software solutions – like CurbIQ – have change management tools built into them to enable immediate policy changes to be made as usage changes are being discovered virtually in real time.
Reduced traffic congestion
By gaining insights into parking availability, curbside utilisation, and traffic flow patterns, cities can implement targeted interventions to reduce congestion, improve traffic flow, and enhance overall urban mobility. Utilising the same data sources used to analyse historical trends, integrated curb management software can provide real-time occupancy updates to the public, offering drivers instant access to live parking availability information across the city. This eliminates the necessity for aimless driving in search of parking spots, ultimately improving efficiency and reducing traffic congestion on city streets.
Improved overall urban living conditions
Through data-driven decision-making, cities can create safer, more accessible curbsides that cater to the growing diverse needs of residents, businesses, and visitors, ultimately enhancing the overall quality of urban living.
The integration of live curb side IoT data sources into curb management programs represents a significant step towards creating smarter, more responsive urban environments. By harnessing the power of integrated curbside data, cities can revolutionise their approach to curbside management, promote sustainable mobility solutions, and enhance the overall urban experience for all stakeholders.
Declan Hollingworth is a Product Analyst at CurbIQ, Arcadis’s innovative curbside and mobility data solution. He is a technical specialist in real-time/historical data integrations, analytics reporting, and SaaS product development.
Author: Declan Hollingworth, Product Analyst at Arcadis
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