Urban mobility is evolving rapidly, with curb management becoming a critical element for efficient city planning. The Curb Data Specification (CDS) provides cities with the structure needed to collect, share, and analyze curb usage data. Although CDS has proven to be helpful to standardize data and outline an architecture, it is ultimately up to cities and vendors to make use of this framework to actually improve curbside operations. This case study explores how custom API queries using CDS provide an effective process for using curb data and CDS to address urban curb management challenges, offering insights valuable to city planners and transportation officials.
Cities face numerous challenges in managing curb space, including congestion, inefficient use of resources, and conflicts among various users such as delivery services, ride-sharing vehicles, and personal cars. The lack of standardized data collection and analysis methods exacerbates these issues, making it difficult for city planners to make informed decisions. We know CDS can help solve this by removing data silos, enabling automated processes to maintain curb data, and giving the ability to dynamically manage regulations. However, some problems still remain with using this data:
CDS has basic queries and endpoints to search through CDS data. However, these queries are introductory and may require prior knowledge (for example, knowing a given curb zone’s UUID). This is no fault of CDS; it is meant to be a framework. This framework is in place so that custom applications can be built on CDS to make the most use of this data.
First, what do we even mean by custom API queries, or queries in general? API queries are commands sent to an application programming interface (API) to request specific data or perform operations. They allow users to extract, manipulate, and interact with data in a standardized and automated way, tailored to their specific needs. Custom queries are an effective way to help users get what they want from APIs and are very common in data integrations.
How does this relate to the curbside? Well, a delivery driver only cares where the loading zones are, and a private driver in a rush only cares where they can park at 1:55 PM, 5 minutes before their important meeting. By providing custom queries to get this exact type of information, users can quickly and effectively get the relevant data they need from CDS, which then improves their curbside experience.
Some specific examples of custom API queries that the CurbIQ team has created can be seen below. This is just a sample – more use cases grow each day as more users start to adopt CDS.
What does this look like in practice? Using the same syntax as CDS is key – a sample of one of a custom API query that provides the closest delivery zone at 3 PM can be seen below. This query provide a direct way for a logistics driver (or app) to quickly identify where they should route their trip to. More examples like this can be seen here on one of your sample API documentation pages.
These custom queries being discussed aren’t some hypothetical concept: the CurbIQ team is using these in several different applications, some of which are highlighted below:
As you can quickly see, there are many examples of the potential of custom API queries using CDS to enhance urban curb management. By leveraging these queries, cities can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their curb space allocation by enabling users to make informed decisions. The lessons learned from this implementation can serve as a valuable guide for other cities facing similar challenges, while also maximizing the use of CDS. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any new custom applications of curb data that would be useful in your city; you likely aren’t the only one looking for a way to build on CDS to solve your curbside problems.