Page 56 - Security Today, July/August 2021

Moving to the Curb Management helps cities make informed decisions
By Michael Bradner
Making good policy decisions requires data. Cit- ies, for example, need a clear picture of their curbs before implementing any changes to park- ing allocation, prices, or bylaws. But today gain- ing this understanding can be difficult because demand for the curb is changing.
Where once a city simply had to allocate spots to private ve- hicle parking, today’s curb must have parking spots as well as designated areas for ride hail services, loading zones, recharging stations, flex zones, and bike-sharing stations.
With such high demand for the curb, managing this valuable asset is critical. The fact that many cities lack the essential data necessary to make informed policy decisions means they are miss- ing an opportunity to improve the lives of their citizens. Fortu- nately, by working with an advanced parking management sys- tem that collects and correlates data from multiple sources, cities can now generate actionable information in almost real time that can be used to implement more effective parking and mobility policies.
Curb management, as opposed to parking management, uses data to help cities make informed decisions about how to improve space efficiency and compliance. This more expansive approach, which includes parking and various forms of transportation, of- fers greater flexibility and can be used in a variety of ways. It rec- ognizes that the curb is in high demand and that those demands change over time. For example, the demand for a loading zone
can peak first thing in the morning and then disappear on the weekend. A city can’t afford to waste that space.
GETTING PARKING PRICES JUST RIGHT
One way that cities can help their citizens is by improving traffic flow. Full parking occupancy downtown leads to drivers circling multiple blocks looking for spaces. This can have a detrimental impact on business in a city’s center as it causes drivers to have a negative experience driving downtown. It can also significantly increase the risk of pedestrian and vehicular accidents as drivers make unsafe decisions to grab any spot that becomes available.
The optimal parking occupancy in a city is 15% free space at any given time. When a city has less than 15% free space, it indicates that parking prices are too low. And, if prices are too low, people choose to drive downtown rather than take public transportation, which increases congestion and reduces pedes- trian safety.
Increasing the cost of parking can help alleviate this problem as it encourages people to change their behavior. With the right pricing, a city can make it cost effective for people to park down- town for an hour but too expensive for longer when compared to the cost of taking public transportation. As a result, some people will decide to leave their cars at home if they intend to stay down- town for a long time, reducing both traffic and occupancy rates and increasing road safety.
In the past, it was difficult for cities to effectively implement
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JULY/AUGUST 2021 | SECURITY TODAY
PARKING MANAGEMENT
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