The rise of the curbside is underway. Ride-sharing apps are changing the way we view transportation, but such a large disruption in a long-standing market is bound to cause unforeseen consequences. One of these biggest concerns for cities is an increase in curbside usage. As the influence of ride-sharing companies grow in urban areas, so does the traffic along curbsides. Drivers pick up and let out customers along curbs, which can cause congestion in the streets and increases the demand for curbside space. Until recently, there has been little a city can do to deal with this increase in demand for curb space. Cities in search of solutions are beginning to implement demand-responsive pricing for curbsides. These dynamic pricing options minimize congestion, improve transportation, and replace old revenue streams lost by the rise of ride-sharing apps. Cities are seeing drops in meter payments and are turning to the curbside to find new revenue. This is causing curbside data to become increasingly valuable, with large investments being made to find the best ways to deal with this newfound problem.
LA is one city currently battling the issue of limited curbside space, and proving that it is no easy task. LA is attempting to monitor their curbsides using video-generated codes and historical data, in the hopes of finding trends to better organize their curbs. LA has experienced some problems, however, as these data sources aren’t always accurate. Video-generated codes are easily obstructed due to traffic or larger vehicles blocking the cameras. Historical data has also been inaccurate, as the data collected fails to account for certain trend. The ideal method for monitoring should be real-time, accurate, and inexpensive.
Fybr’s transportation sensor platform offers a way to fill this need, by offering reasonably priced, accurate, and real-time sensors that can monitor curbsides 24-7. Sensors are effective and inexpensive compared to the alternative methods of data collection, and Fybr’s unique end-to-end platform allows for extremely accurate measurements and real-time relay of this data. Fybr’s data collection goes beyond what can be measured by historical or video-generated data, as their sensors can show parking turnover and daily trends. These trends offer critical data for cities trying to implement dynamic pricing, which will be an essential approach to properly utilizing the increasingly important curbside. The accuracy of Fybr’s sensors allows for fair and efficient enforcement of parking policies, so check out Fybr’s Smart City solutions to see how our unique platform can resolve the ongoing curbside-space dilemma.