Exploring Options for Curb Management in Diverse Contexts

With the expansion of mobility options in the last decade—be it bikeshare networks, transportation network companies, increased delivery services, or shared use micromobility options just to name a few—additional stress has been placed on the curb to accommodate them. Detailed data of curb regulations is necessary to help public agencies manage this space effectively, yet this data is often limited. The major obstacles to creating this data are the time and cost to survey curbs at scale. A methodology to efficiently create and maintain curb inventories is necessary to modernize curbside management practices.  

Table of Contents

To test one such methodology, Los Angeles-based nonprofit Urban Movement Labs partnered with CurbIQ. Over the course of six months, CurbIQ tested their augmented mobile mapping (AMM) process and demonstrated its potential as a scalable curb surveying approach for Los Angeles. The curb data collected using this method can help to create vibrant, safe, equitable, and sustainable neighborhoods through informed policy making and curb pricing.

How did this pilot project deploy in Los Angeles and what were some of the key findings?

The Pilot

To understand the capabilities of CurbIQ’s augmented mobile mapping technology in different urban contexts with varying degrees of curb activity, the technology was tested in three neighborhoods of Los Angeles (Hollywood, South Park, and Warner Center) and a suburban neighborhood in nearby Maywood. In each of these urban contexts, curb regulations and assets were captured and digitized into a format that could be displayed as a map.

Surveyors used the cameras of mobile phones to automatically capture street-level imagery as they drove along streets in the identified neighborhoods. CurbIQ’s AMM technology then extracted curb regulations and assets along with their positions from the street-level images. A control set of data was also obtained with the help of pedestrian surveyors collecting data manually using CurbWheel, an open-source app and measurement wheel that leverages mapping technology to digitize curb information.

What We Learned

Overall, this pilot demonstrated that a blended surveying approach, consisting of augmented mobile mapping in low- to medium-density areas and pedestrian surveying in dense areas, is a scalable and economical solution to digitize curbs in cities across North America. Below, we summarize our five key findings:

1. Augmented mobile mapping works: Car-mounted cameras that capture GPS location can be used to detect, locate, and read most parking signs under the right circumstances.
2. Low- to medium-scale land use contexts are ideal candidates for augmented mobile mapping: In low to medium density, where buildings are generally a few stories high or shorter, and sign obstructions are rare, augmented mobile mapping is very successful. For example, AMM surveying in the medium/low-density suburb of Maywood returned a sign detection rate of 98% and a sign comprehension rate of 98%. In contrast, AMM only returned an effective sign detection rate of 93% in the high-density downtown neighborhood of South Park.
3. Dense urban areas require pedestrian surveyors: Downtowns and other dense environments are not ideal settings for augmented mobile mapping. The reasons for this are twofold: (1) tall buildings obstruct and distort GPS signals, creating what’s known as an “urban canyon” effect; (2) signs and regulations are placed close together, requiring a very high geolocational precision to resolve their relative positions. Together, these effects result in significant geolocation errors: 43% of signs in South Park had a geolocation error greater than 5 yards, compared to only 18% of signs in Maywood.
4. Optimal routing is a challenge: The lessons from this pilot are informing IBI’s parametric design team to develop a tool that can automatically optimize data collection routes.
5. Driving is faster than walking: The results show that you can reduce surveying time to nearly a quarter in low- to medium-density areas by driving.

Urban Movement Labs is a dynamic collaboration between communities, local government, and mobility innovators, all committed to the same vision: a Los Angeles where new transportation technologies are tested, proven, and brought to life.

What Could Digital Curbs Mean for Your Community?

Cities worldwide have established safety, sustainability, and equity goals to improve mobility in their communities. Accurate, up-to-date curb data is necessary for supporting these local goals, and with AMM, a comprehensive digital curb inventory is well within reach even for small communities.

A digital curb inventory has benefits beyond documenting existing curb policies and roadway allocation decisions. Digital curb inventories are critical for real-time curb management. Paired with other tools, curb inventories can facilitate real-time data collection, enforcement, and dynamic zone operation.

The strategies for improving curb management are well documented and understanding how the curb is used is a prerequisite for utilizing new tools effectively. Augmented mobile mapping has the potential to lower barriers to obtaining a digital curb inventory, and in turn makes dynamic curb management more accessible. By improving curb data, cities can make more informed decisions about curb regulations and how the streetscape is designed to better serve the needs of communities. With thoughtful implementation, these digital tools have the potential to support transformational changes to mobility, providing community members with more accessible and sustainable mobility options at the curb.

To download the complete report, please visit: bit.ly/DigitizingCurbLA

‍