Coord: City of Aspen Makes Downtown Streets More Efficient with New Smart Zone Pilot
Coord: City of Aspen Makes Downtown Streets More Efficient with New Smart Zone Pilot
In partnership with curb management platform, Coord, Aspen pilots innovative Smart Zones to improve safety and efficiency of bustling downtown area
Aspen, CO – The City of Aspen, in partnership with Coord, a leading curb management company, today announced the launch of its first-ever Smart Zone pilot program to better manage the city’s curbs. This follows Aspen’s selection by Coord as one of four U.S. cities to participate in the company’s inaugural Digital Curb Challenge to undertake a brand new curb management program.
Smart Zones, powered by Coord’s technology, enable commercial drivers to use the mobile devices they already use every day to locate nearby available loading zones and to hold, book, and pay for time in them. As a result, Smart Zones promote the economic vitality of commercial areas by making it easier for businesses to receive supplies and fulfill customer requests for deliveries, all while improving the experience for people who visit the area. While offering a more streamlined experience for drivers, they can improve mobility for everyone visiting the downtown by reducing safety and congestion problems, such as double-parking and blocked pedestrian access.
Best known as a year-round outdoor recreation mecca, the City of Aspen will use the Smart Zones to streamline the bustling downtown area’s commercial deliveries that serve the city’s restaurants, retailers and other businesses. Aspen will be the first city to deploy Smart Zones in alleys, exploring how technology can make these public assets work more efficiently. This pilot program builds upon Aspen’s history of innovation in parking policy and the strong collaboration between city government, local businesses, and other stakeholders.
“The City of Aspen is excited to be partnering with Coord to better understand how our loading zones and Alleys are working today and how to improve them in the future. The goal is to collect data on how the loading zones are being used, how often certain commercial trucks are coming to town, how long their average stay is and are the loading zones in the right locations and the correct sizes,” said Mitch Osur, Director of Parking at the City of Aspen. “We plan to use the data and information collected to make delivering product more efficient and safer for the truckers and the businesses in Aspen.”
The City of Aspen has deployed eight Smart Zones located in Aspen’s Downtown:
- 100 S. Monarch by Matsuhisa
- S. Monarch to S. Mill between White House Tavern & Wells Fargo
- S. Mill to S. Galena between Mi Chola & Local’s Corner
- 300 E. Hynam, S Side by The Wheeler
- 200 S. Galena by Ute
- 500 E. Cooper by Boogies
- 400 S. Galena, E Side by Belly Up
- 400 S. Original, W Side by City Market
Coord’s Smart Zones will also provide the City of Aspen with information that is essential in empowering the city to make data-driven operational changes. For example, program data can be used to understand when and where loading space is most needed and to help manage demand for it through pricing and time limits. Because Smart Zone availability, rules and prices are digitally communicated to drivers, Coord’s platform allows a city to make rules adjustments for zones in response to policy changes, special events or emergencies without the hassle and expense of modifying signage on the street.
“Smart Zones are a valuable tool to help cities more dynamically manage their curb space, streamline the experience for commercial drivers, and thereby reduce the safety and congestion issues that impact so many downtowns,” said Dawn Miller, Coord’s Head of Policy and Partnerships. “We are thrilled to be working with Aspen on this pilot program and look forward to bringing the insights developed in this bustling city to other cities across the country tackling curb management challenges in their commercial areas.”
About City of Aspen
The City of Aspen is a home rule Colorado municipality governed by five City Council members including the mayor. Aspen sits at 7,980 feet on the Western Slope of Colorado in the Elk Mountains. It has a year-round population of more than 6,500 individuals and attracts visitors from around the world. Known for its natural beauty, recreational opportunities, and progressive thinking, Aspen strives to be an inclusive policymaker that understands the value our natural environment and engaged community offer our political, social and economic lives. The City of Aspen’s strategic focus is on the following areas: economic vitality; fiscal health; smart, customers focused government; protecting our environment; safe lived-in community; and community engagement.
About Coord
Coord is transforming city streets, starting with the curb. Coord is the only comprehensive curb management platform, empowering cities with technology to digitally operate and price the curb at scale, creating more efficient, safe and equitable streets. Recognized by CNBC Upstart 100 and Fast Company’s Innovation by Design, Coord partners include cities like Seattle, Boston, Pittsburgh, Omaha, Nashville, Aspen, Boulder and West Palm Beach. Coord is based in New York City and backed by Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs, Alliance Ventures, Trucks, Urban.us and DB Digital Ventures. For more information, visit coord.com.