Dynamic Curbside Management: Keeping Pace with New and Emerging Mobility and Technology in the Public Right-of-Way, Part 1: Dynamic Curbside Management Guide and Part 2: Conduct of Research Report (2022)

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2 Section 1: Why Dynamic Curbside Management? Introduction This section provides practitioners with an overview of curbside management at a state, regional, district, or city block scale and considers how dynamic curbside management can be used to optimize the curb based on demand and priorities for the curbside. This section defines the broad concept of curbside management and • Discusses curbside management at different government levels. • Presents concepts for understanding demand at the curb. • Defines dynamic curbside management as a distinct subset of curbside management. • Describes how dynamic curbside management can help agencies understand and address stakeholder concerns. • Connects dynamic curbside management concepts to broader transport, efficiency, equity, and climate goals. What is the Curbside? The curbside requires holistic approaches across multiple levels of government to create shared spaces of value across various communities while balancing transportation needs. A quote in the Shared-Use City: Managing a Curb (International Transport Forum, 2018) explains the importance of managing the curbside, “The curb materializes the interface between the transport function of the street and its other uses. As such, curbs are the points where streets generate value for citizens and cities. This is because transport systems do not necessarily generate value through movement per se, but rather, do so when people or goods stop moving when they arrive at their destination.” The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Curbside Inventory Report (2021) defines the curbside as, “The space adjacent to the roadway travel lanes providing a transition zone between different functions and modes. It includes parking lanes and space on either side of the physical curb and may include travel lanes temporarily used for curbside functions when the curb is fully occupied.” What is Curbside Management? Curbside management drives the planning, measuring, managing, allocating, and enforcement of the uses and users of the curb by a government agency (IPMI Research and Innovation Task Force, 2021). Curbside management is an overarching strategy that is tied to explicit goals related to the optimization of mobility and safety of all users at the curb. Curbside management can be applied at the state, regional, and local levels. The complexity and detail of curbside management may depend on the needs across the agency, nature of goals identified, geographic coverage area, different functional road classifications, roadway ownership, functional control and maintenance responsibilities, and land uses and density. Curbside management should also ensure allocation of curb space is done in a fair and equitable manner for all curb users and uses. The FHWA Curbside Inventory Report (2021), the International Parking and Mobility Institute (IPMI) Curbside Glossaries (2021), and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Curbside Management

3 Practitioners Guide (2018) are key resources associated with overall curbside management. This Guide builds on and cross-references these foundational documents. Understanding Demands at the Curb Demands at the curb are generated by uses and users based on the destinations along a road and the characteristics and connection points of the road itself. Changes in curb demand can occur, so understanding the difference between demand and use allocation is important. As shown in Figure 1, the uses and users of the curb are many and varied. These are also changing as technologies and preferences evolve. Figure 1. Typical Curbside Users and Uses Source: FHWA Curbside Inventory Report, 2021 Curbside Management Dimensions Four key concepts—context, uses and users of the curb, time, and space — are essential to understanding and managing the curb. The context for curbside management is defined by the adjacent land uses. A dense downtown office district may require prioritization of employer access and small package delivery. A boulevard or avenue adjacent to a beach front may need to prioritize access for people, passenger pick-ups and drop-offs (PUDO) with bus stop locations, bicycle lanes, and parking. A location with nearby restaurants may need to prioritize customer access, supply delivery, and accommodate access for food delivery drivers. Prioritization of curb function can vary based on time of day, so in the instance of a restaurant, the curb space could be used for supply deliveries in the morning and for customer access in the afternoon and evening. Understanding adjacent land use and time of day needs helps the curbside management team set functional and modal priorities. Street or curbside management frameworks, such as the ones created by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) help contextualize the distinct functions of

4 the curb within the surrounding built environments. Figure 2 displays five curb functions: access for people, access for goods, public space and services, storage for vehicles, and movement. Figure 3 displays how the five curb functions in Figure 2 are prioritized based on land use context. Curb functions that support through movement of motorized and non-motorized modes of transport and are accessible for people are the highest priorities across all land use types, except for industrial and production areas where curb space for deliveries is top priority. Figure 2. SFMTA’s Category of Curb Functions Source: (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, 2020)

5 Figure 3. SFMTA’s Curb Function Prioritization by Land Use Source: (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, 2020) The use and users of the curb explain the level of demand at the curb. Information on who is using the curb space at various times of the day, the duration of time spent at the curb, and the reason for using the space, can be collected in a user inventory. Although collecting data on curb use and users may not always be feasible, Section 3 of this Guide provides various strategies and guidance on how to collect this data. Time is a critical dimension of curbside management, reflected in many of the pilot dynamic curbside management efforts discussed in this Guide. Demand for the curb is temporal and different users need more, or less, curbside access depending on the time of day, day of the week, and time of year. To illustrate the significance of time with curbside management, below are three examples related to deliveries, late night PUDO, and dwelling time: • Deliveries to businesses are made during designated hours at “loading zones” while residential or personal deliveries occur during “off” hours, where individuals are working or sleeping. Both delivery strategies are intended to reduce conflict with other uses and users at the curb. • Late night pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) curb demand near restaurants, bars, and entertainment corridors is growing due to technological and transportation advancements. Pilots have evaluated designated PUDO curb space during late night hours along districts and blocks to analyze travel patterns and time spent at the curb. • Dwell time is how long a user spends at the curb. A PUDO can last a few seconds to a few minutes depending on how many passengers are involved, the physical strength and ability of the passenger(s), the presence of young children, and the number of items a passenger is traveling with, such as groceries or luggage. A pick-up trip may take longer than a drop-off trip since the driver and passenger must find each other. Additionally, the duration of using on-street parking may depend on the trip purpose.

6 Understanding the amount of available space at the curb is important when prioritizing and allocating curb functions. Curb inventories are useful for documenting the amount of space available at a curb and may provide insight on existing uses based on general observations. Section 3 discusses approaches to curb inventories and spatial considerations. Curb space is a finite resource and allocation of the space can be dynamic across function, use, and time of day. Demand and Allocation Other key concepts for understanding the overall function of curbside management are demand and allocation. Demand is the amount and type of use or desired use under specific conditions, such as the number of people trying to park in a block over a day. Allocation is the distribution of space and time or the process of giving out parts of a whole, such as providing half the block for parking storage. Demand and allocation are also key in guiding field adjustments on all levels of government. Changes in Demand Marsden, Docherty, & Dowling (2020) describe two important dimensions of ongoing change that have necessitated more proactive and complex curbside management, as enabled through dynamic curbside management: • intensification in the demand for curb use, and • diversification in the demands for the space Intensification and diversification are noted by the increased number of users and types of users at the curb which is supported by various research efforts and studies. For example, passenger throughput at PUDO zones in five study locations in San Francisco were examined and the results indicated that four of the zones exceeded supply. For commercial delivery, a University of Washington study found that inadequate space for loading leads to delivery drivers loading in unauthorized areas (Giron-Valderram, Machado-Leon, & Goodchild, 2019). The demand for the curb has increased over the past ten years, with the introduction of ridesourcing, shared micromobility devices, and a significant rise in e-commerce (Mitman, et al., 2018). E-commerce growth in areas like restaurant and grocery delivery and online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic has further contributed to a sharp increase in on-demand delivery. What is Dynamic Curbside Management? Dynamic curbside management is the data-driven understanding, allocation, and operation of the curb across space and time to optimally serve curb uses and users as determined by community values. The time (i.e., the duration or limit over the course of a day), space (i.e., the amount of linear space allocated), and regulation (i.e., the price or other terms of its use) can all be dynamic in pursuit of the optimal use. Dynamic curbside allocation should be based on the most current (potentially real-time) data available to the public agencies and can include different project delivery types and multiple sources of data. Curbside project delivery types include pilot projects, quick builds, and permanent installations. Data sources for dynamic curbside management include manual data collection, automated data collection, third-party data providers, and interagency data (Abel, et al., 2021). Dynamic curbside management usually employs technology at the curb, in vehicles, and on personal devices to detect changes in demand and communicate changes in use allocation. Dynamic curbsides often require flex zone designations. Time limitations can be flexible based on time of day, the limit of time, day of the week, and time of the year. Often time limitations are included in signage at the curb or can be tracked using a mobile device. Additionally, innovative technology, such as

7 embedded lighting that changes based on the permitted uses at a given time, are being explored and tested. Dynamic curbside management is based on data and prioritization, with a key example being freight loading reservation pilot programs. For the pilot programs in Columbus, Ohio, and Washington, DC, the agencies partnered with private sector companies to pilot technology enabling price and time regulation of loading zone spaces on a minute-by-minute basis. The technology and data-driven approach allowed the cities to implement dynamic curbside management strategies. Additional cities with dynamic curbside management pilots in high-density retail and commercial areas include Aspen, Colorado; West Palm Beach, Florida; and Santa Monica, California. Generally, dynamic curbside management pilot programs occur on a few blocks in commercial corridors or areas with high levels of tourism. Common examples of dynamic curbside management that may be separate from pilot programs include: • Agencies modifying their curbside regulations to accommodate increased temporary PUDO during a major event, typically identified and managed through special event permits. • Agencies removing parking at certain times of day during peak traffic to allow for an extra travel lane along the curb, either as a car travel lane, a bus only lane, or a pedestrian/bicycle pathway. • On a micro-scale, providing a temporary curb lane closure on part of a block for moving trucks or construction work. Understanding and Addressing Stakeholder Concerns Through Dynamic Curbside Management Community engagement is crucial for identifying curbside management goals and improving equitable access at the curb. Dynamic curbside management heightens the need for sensitivity to community values because it has a greater potential to disrupt or support existing curbside uses. Community engagement should create a baseline understanding of what curbside management is, what it does for stakeholders, and how it should serve all road users and address common stakeholder concerns. Equity is a critical consideration in identifying project goals and implementing curbside management. Dynamic curbside management can enhance equity by focusing on serving individual needs, by including community members in the planning process for determining best curb side uses and may enable more active uses at the curb or carve out space for underserved uses and users, such as transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians. As innovative technologies are deployed in communities for dynamic curbside management, efforts to ensure technologies advance policy goals, connect quantitative measures to human experiences, and engage community-based organizations to identify gaps is imperative. During public outreach, transportation agency staff should maintain communication with all segments of the population for input and feedback, particularly those who are underrepresented, marginalized, or historically underserved, to gain an understanding of the needs of all curb space stakeholders and user groups. Inherent biases, including differences in existing activity and data availability in different communities, should be considered so that project goals are evaluated and enacted equitably (Abel, et al., 2021). For example, stakeholders who attend public meetings and provide public input may not be representative of the entire population or of all stakeholders. Contrasting public input with other data sources, such as manual or interagency data, can be helpful to ensure curb space is allocated based on the needs of all stakeholders. Since dynamic curbside management is typically data-enabled, allowing curb managers to identify uses and user trends through review of observed data is important. Dynamic curb data trends could verify or contrast with public engagement feedback, further pinpointing whether feedback is representational.

8 Key Issues Addressed by Dynamic Curbside Management Historically, curb space has been primarily allocated to the storage of private vehicles through the provision of short- and long-term curbside parking. The widespread availability of free or underpriced parking negatively impacts travel behavior and induces vehicle travel. Free or underpriced curbside parking encourages private vehicle ownership and causes drivers to circle the same location in search for parking, referred to as “cruising,” which contributes to a string of negative externalities (McCahill, et al., 2016; Weinberger, 2012; Shoup, 2006). As vehicles accelerate, decelerate, and idle more frequently, while looking for an on-street parking spot, tailpipe emissions can increase (Eisele, 2014). Prioritizing space for parking over transit can reduce the reliability, frequency, and efficiency of transit and eliminates potential space for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and design on the curb. However, reducing on-street parking, especially in high- density areas with low-income populations, may also disproportionately impact those with no transit options to their workplace or key services. Outside of short- and long-term curbside parking, the new and increasing demands for curb use are creating safety challenges as well: vehicles picking up and dropping off passengers in active travel lanes, double parking in bicycle lanes, and pedestrians crossing to access vehicles. These demands can contribute to an overall increase in exposure/potential conflict points, which can have serious safety and accessibility implications. Overall, to address these issues, knowledge of community demographics and needs must play a role in determining the prioritization of curb space for various modes of transportation and uses. Quality of Life Enhancements with Dynamic Curbside Management Through the consideration of community priorities and optimization of curb supply and demand, dynamic curbside management can help advance statewide, regional, and local goals for: • Multimodal Mobility • Livability • Accessibility • Safety • Air Quality • Congestion Management • Travel Time Reliability • Economic Vitality • Equity Figure 4 illustrates the complicated interplay among goals, context, and use. Dynamic curbside management goals must be appropriate to context and consistent with overarching goals of a jurisdiction. Context includes community values and feedback, which play a role in setting and prioritizing goals. Goals may also be set according to use, though the catalyst of initiating dynamic curbside management is sometimes the fact that the current use results in undesirable outcomes. Use must be consistent with goals and context.

9 Figure 4. Interplay of Curb Goals, Use, and Context with Dynamic Curbside Management Many cities lack expertise on dynamic curbside management fundamentals and implementation considerations and are thus restricted in the resources they can apply at the curb or hamstrung by the perception that paid on-street parking is only a revenue source rather than a management tool. Effective dynamic curbside management may support safety initiatives, sustainability practices, and encourage economic vitality for small businesses or downtown districts. Goals Dynamic Curbside Management Use Context