Five ways dynamic display kiosks are helping cities and businesses improve curbside management

If there is one thing drivers across the country can all agree on, it’s that ample day-to-day parking has become harder and harder to find especially in high-traffic, downtown business districts. And the bigger the city – the bigger the challenges become for residents.  

Stephen Rusche, Senior Director, Cox Business Smart Communities

What used to be a humble curb space for retail business customers and the occasional delivery truck has quickly turned into a minute-by-minute jockeying for valuable curb space by taxis, rideshare vendors, delivery service companies, small business customers, and new visitors to the area. With many cities landlocked by existing businesses and infrastructure, adding new parking structures isn’t always an option. This means public and private curb owners are now forced to find a better way to manage the curb space they already have.

Solving that dilemma is why cities like Las Vegas are turning to Cox Business and deploying Dynamic Curbside Solutions to create a better overall experience for drivers and riders alike. Dynamic digital displays help curb owners manage overloaded curbs with an affordable solution that allows them to better triage usage of the curb. There are five key benefits to deploying Dynamic Curbside Solutions.

Gather Real-Time Data and Analytics on Curb Usage to Drive Better Decisions

It’s hard to know how to improve your curbside parking issues if you don’t have a clear picture of how it’s being used and where opportunities for enhancements may exist. Dynamic Curbside Kiosks are equipped with data gathering instruments that capture information on vehicles so that you have a better understanding of who is coming and going and at what times of the day.

This allows you to optimize curb utilization by leveraging the data and analytics to create a gameplan for specific areas of town where parking pressures may be the most intense. Cox Business provides a smart community platform that allows you to easily access and manage all the data collected from the curbside kiosks across the city. Armed with a clear picture of how the curb spaces are being used is the first step to being able to make the right decisions that will then improve and expand accessibility for drivers and riders.

Improve Curb Accessibility by User Groups and Peak Usage Times

While there is a large and diverse group of users who are all vying for available parking spaces, not all of them are always at the same time of day. Dynamic Curbside Kiosks allow you to monitor and remotely change parking designations as needed. For example, you may want to designate a specific number of curbside parking spaces for taxis, rideshare, and delivery trucks at specific times of day when activity is highest, but then shift that kiosk messaging to visitor/customer parking when commercial activity is the lightest.

A digital display gives you total control over the curb space designations remotely from anywhere with an internet connection. While the data and analytics drive the decision making, the drivers and riders benefit directly from your ability to shift signage dynamically depending on the kind of availability that is needed most at that time. This allows curb owners to maximize usage by driver type and by time allocations based on changing needs and competing demands.

Enhance Curb Flow While Reducing Traffic Congestion

With an increase in drivers spending more time searching for available parking spaces also comes an increase in traffic congestion on city streets. It becomes a disruption for local businesses and in some cases can impact their ability to generate revenues as residents opt out of visiting those locations simply for the stress of traffic reasons alone. This leads to a lose-lose for everyone. Lost revenues for the curb owner in parking fees and businesses struggling to make their locations work for their customers.

Being able to dynamically free up spaces through access optimization relieves some of that traffic congestion as drivers can find spaces quicker, and riders know where to go to easily access rideshare or taxi services. Digital kiosks are also equipped with time remaining on curbside spaces so that drivers are clued in to when it’s time to vacate the space which helps vehicles move in and out more efficiently. In a sense, the kiosks become the air-traffic controller for the street spaces creating a seamless experience for users when optimized to its fullest potential.

Monetize the Curb and Drive New Revenue Streams 

One of the reasons many new infrastructure projects never see the light of day is because the capital costs to deploy it require large funding sources, but the project doesn’t offer enough opportunities to generate new revenue to offset overall project costs.   

Dynamic Curbside Kiosks are not only very affordable to deploy, but they also enhance opportunities to generate greater revenues than ever before. The curbside kiosks can be designated revenue generating when and where appropriate for the location.

It may be that spaces are allocated to commercial and rideshare services in one daypart as part of a public service. At the same time, perhaps separate spaces in other dayparts are paid parking spaces with changing dollar values based on time of year, specific high-profile events, or other meaningful high-value instances.

The bottom line is that you have total control over the spaces and can make decisions that are in the best interests of everyone involved. By generating new revenues through the curbside kiosks, you can then reinvest those dollars into expanding deployment of additional smart community technologies that offer more opportunities to increase ROI long term. 

Create a Safer Environment for Drivers and Passengers

When it comes to busy downtown streets and a constant flow of cars, public safety is always a concern. We know that rideshare drivers are looking for spaces to pull over to pick up passengers and often riders are standing near the edge of the street with cell phones lit up trying to flag down their Uber or Lyft drivers.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were designated spaces for taxis and rideshare drivers so that passengers can wait a safe distance away from the street and drivers could easily pull in for pick-ups? Dynamic Curbside Kiosks provide just that - an easy to implement curbside solution that protects both drivers and riders from the unnecessary risks of traffic accidents or pedestrian incidents.

Having dedicated spaces for commercial drivers at peak times also cut down on the confusion of different vehicles competing for the same spaces which can lead to a reduction in situations where drivers may get a little hot under the hood. Organizing traffic flow with clear visual communications improve overall driver satisfaction and alleviate many of the stresses of parking in high-volume areas.

Bringing it Home

Deploying Dynamic Curbside Solutions is an easy first step for curb owners who want to get a handle on their parking challenges while also keeping an eye open toward generating new revenues in the process. Data is key to managing traffic flow and the kiosks provide an affordable way to gather intel and then make decisions that better utilize spaces based on needs and day-to-day usage.

Cox Business Smart Communities is the IoT division of Cox Business. With a proven track record of implementing innovative technology solutions -- pared with Cox’s experience in designing, building, and supporting smart infrastructure -- we’re working to create more efficient and sustainable cities and communities for everyone. To learn more about Dynamic Digital Curbside Solutions, please email [email protected], or visit www.coxbusiness.com/curbsolutions.