The Battle For the Curb

Recently, Kevin wrote about how CAVs could alter the shape of cities. While CAV deployment is still in its infancy, the boom in ride sharing is already changing the design of cities. In Washington, D.C. the city government has announced the creation of five pickup and drop off zones that are reserved for ride shares 24 hours a day. The zones are also used for commercial loading and unloading, and are located near highly trafficked areas.

The creation of these zones in D.C. are part of a greater discussion of how cities use the curb. Right now, there is a lot of competition for the curb, from parking meters, to bike lanes, to drop off zones like the ones in D.C. And companies like Coord have started to keep track of everything that is going on near the curb, with an intent to build out a database that can be used by city planners and anyone else interested in what’s happening at street level. Any changes that CAVs make to cities will no doubt start at the curb – which means city governments need to figure out just what’s going to happen on the curb. Will cities be willing to give up their venue from street parking? Or will a boom in AVs cause that revenue to disappear on its own?