Tag Archives for: Curbs

City of Las Vegas Launches Smart Curbside Management Corridor with Cox

March 04, 2021

 

 

City of Las Vegas Launches
Smart Curbside Management Corridor with Cox

 

 

 

IoT Business Line of Cox Begins Pilot Traffic Management Solutions for a Safer Downtown

 

 

LAS VEGAS and ATLANTA, March 4, 2021 – Today, Cox Communications announced it has initiated a pilot partnership with the city of Las Vegas to trial its smart curbside management solution from Cox2M, aimed at reducing downtown traffic congestion.

The goal of the Las Vegas pilot is to reduce traffic congestion in downtown Las Vegas. Covering six parking spots along the sidewalk adjacent to the 100 block of Main Street are two digital kiosks that utilize video analytics and smart parking technology to better manage active curb loading zones for taxis and rideshares, making conditions safer for visitors and pedestrians.

“The city is working on a variety of smart and innovative public-private partnerships, just like this one,” said Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman. “We appreciate Cox for their out-of-the-box thinking and assistance as we work together to ease traffic congestion in our downtown. It’s ideas like this one that will move our city into the future.”

“Our relationship with the communities of Southern Nevada runs deep and developing the pilot program with the city of Las Vegas has been a huge step forward in exploring what we can do with smart community technology,” said Derrick Hill, vice president, Cox Business Las Vegas. “We are absolutely committed to improving the way of life for Southern Nevadans, and we’re proud to be partnering with the city to utilize strategic technology to enhance the overall visitor experience.”

“Installing the curbside management kiosks demonstrates the innovation that Las Vegas is pursuing to create a smarter ecosystem for visitors and residents”, said Barak Weinisman, vice president, Cox2M and smart communities. “We look forward to working with the city to help ease traffic flow and showcase how kiosks can enable visitor engagement.”

Video analytics from devices along the curb will capture vehicle and license plate information and send utilization data to the kiosks to kick off a countdown timer. If a vehicle remains in the loading zone after the countdown ends, the system reports the incident directly to the city, ensuring a constant flow of traffic.

On the backend, the Cox platform provides cloud processing of traffic flow information, an on- screen interface to display vehicle information, and an online portal to report traffic flows and pedestrian counts.

Additionally, Cox Media explores the placement of advertisements on the kiosks and how that can provide local businesses with brand presence in vibrant downtown Las Vegas.

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“We are excited to be part of the technology that moves Las Vegas forward as a Smart City,” said Tonya Ruby, vice president, Cox Media Las Vegas. “Cox Media is all about finding solutions for local businesses and these kiosks are another way we can deliver relevant messages to residents and visitors.”

After weeks of successful testing, installation is completed. The six-month pilot began recently in early March, with the potential to resume upon successful operation. For more information on Cox2M, visit www.cox2m.com.

About Cox Communications:

Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. The largest private telecom company in America, we proudly serve six million homes and businesses across 18 states. We’re dedicated to empowering others to build a better future and celebrate diverse products, people, suppliers, communities and the characteristics that makes each one unique. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in1898 by Governor James M. Cox.

About Cox Business:

The commercial division of Cox Communications, Cox Business provides voice, data and video services for more than 355,000 small and regional businesses nationwide, including health care providers; K−12 and higher education; financial institutions; and federal, state and local government organizations. The organization also serves most of the top-tier wireless and wireline telecommunications carriers in the U.S. through its wholesale division. For more information, please visit www.coxbusiness.com.

About Cox2M:

A new Cox Communications business line, Cox2M is committed to enabling truly connected environments by providing commercial Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to businesses and communities. Cox2M delivers the ability to monitor and track commercial assets, powering operational efficiencies and improved experiences for its customers. Cox2M’s end-to-end solutions seamlessly integrate connectivity, hardware, software and analytics to solve customer problems. Cox2M currently serves the automotive sector and is broadening its focus to other business sectors, cities, and communities. from cars to power business and operational decisions and provide massive return-on-investment.

About Cox Media:

Cox Media is the advertising sales division of Cox Communications, the third largest cable entertainment and broadband services provider in the country. With nearly 30 offices in 18 different states, Cox Media covers six million households across our footprint, connecting advertisers of all sizes to audiences across multiple screens. Anyone, anywhere, any screen is at the center of our core offerings, with a focus on innovative digital media and TV advertising solutions to match individual client needs.

Coord, UPS: It’s Time to Step Up our Curbs

April 15, 2019

 

 

 

It’s Time to Step Up our Curbs

By Thomas Madrecki, Director of Urban Innovation and Mobility UPS

 

 

 

When it comes to designing safer, less congested and more livable streets, there are two experiences I wish I could share with any transportation planner, engineering consultant or local leader:

 

First, what it’s like to be a cyclist and a pedestrian – in their city, and then in Copenhagen.

 

And second, what it’s like to deliver for a company like UPS.

 

In both cases, I think that experience would make a deep impression. As a cyclist myself, I frequently remark that viewing the transportation environment as a cyclist distinctly changes your point of view on things. It’s a shift in perspective that forces you to confront what works and what doesn’t – sometimes even to the point of peril / potential harm as you navigate from Point A to Point B.

 

Delivering for UPS or other logistics companies would have the same kind of impact. Funnily enough, I’ve done that too, because everyone at UPS Public Affairs has to drive a truck at some point in their career. But for me, as transportation policy advocate and curb management wonk (how many of us are there?), it also brought many issues into immediate clarity.

 

As a UPS driver, your job is to deliver the packages on your truck to their intended recipients. Sure, there are other aspects and nuances as a service provider, but really, it’s straightforward. You start with a full truck each morning and you don’t go home until the truck is empty.

 

Just like cyclists and pedestrians, UPS drivers notice things, too. Generally speaking, you drive in the same neighborhood every day, and you start to know the roads, buildings and people like the back of your hand. You need to, because time is of the essence.

 

What do you know about roads, buildings and people?

 

You know that there’s limited parking, everywhere you go – and that frequently, because of e-commerce, you’re not just going to places with clearly marked loading zones.

 

 

You know that what you do inside a building has a distinct impact on how long that delivery takes – which in turn means how long your truck is parked outside.

 

And you know that 1) People order all sorts of crazy things – in increasing quantities and that 2) You need to take every precaution to stay safe.

 

I mention these three insights because although they might seem like common sense to anyone who has driven a commercial vehicle, they often aren’t present in how transportation planning professionals think about street design and curbside regulation.

 

To their credit, this is partially a new development, accelerated by e-commerce growth and the rapid rise of home delivery expectations. More packages than ever before need to be delivered, and those packages are less consolidated to single addresses than ever before, too. And because of demand, there are also more trucks on the road, competing for the same limited pool of legal parking spots.

 

Put differently, demand for curbside space is changing at an unprecedented clip. E-commerce is not that different than the rise in transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft; both trends create a curb demand that’s radically different than a personal vehicle parking space.

 

If that’s the case, anyone who wants to limit double parking, lane blockages, parking in the bike lane, and other less-than-desirable behaviors would do well to revisit the curb and understand how it disproportionately impacts the transportation network. If we solve curb issues, we start to solve congestion and quality of life issues.

 

One groundbreaking idea in this regard is the concept of a “flex zone.” Basically, you’d take away a bunch of personal vehicle parking spots and replace them with a curbside that can be occupied on a rotating, potentially regulated / managed basis. Washington DC DOT recently conducted a similar curb management pilot for late-night passenger pick-up and drop-off in a popular bar and entertainment neighborhood, and the results have been promising.

 

In a flex zone, transportation network companies, e-commerce delivery, food and beverage distribution, plumbing and electrical repair services and more all make the cut – and the idea is you can keep traffic moving and better provide for necessary curbside demands. At the same time, cities could make strides toward greater inclusion of active and shared mobility streams at the curb and sidewalk level, incorporating design and regulatory changes to facilitate bike-share, scooters, and whatever’s next – including eventual autonomous vehicle pick-up and drop-off.

 

Other solutions may be less progressive, but similarly impactful. Consider:

 

Many municipalities drop requirements for off-street or curbside loading areas due to pressure from the development community seeking exemptions to existing ordinances

 

Only a small handful of American cities still have a functioning network of alleys, which further support off-street loading and unloading.

 

How and why loading zones are allocated varies by city – in Chicago, for example, they were historically requested by a local business nearby. But wouldn’t it make more sense for loading zones to be allocated based on actual demand?

 

In Washington DC, a curb study found that the District possesses 1 loading zone for every 520 personal vehicle spots. Do our curbs reflect our cities’ stated transportation priorities? We need to raise the profile of other uses – for 1) shared mobility; 2) urban goods movement; and 3) ensuring the safety of all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

 

Let’s talk enforcement – and right away, I’ll admit that UPS pays its fair share in parking tickets. But if actual behavior change is desired, and not just an ongoing municipal revenue stream, then enforcement needs to be consistent, equitable and robust. This was an issue with New York’s “Clear Curbs” pilot launched early last year. The intention to limit curb use on congested avenues maybe made theoretically, but if only a single United States Postal Service truck parks at the curb regardless – and can’t be ticketed or towed – then you still have an entire lane blocked to traffic.

 

For its part, UPS is also looking for ways to collaborate with cities and local leaders on how to better manage curbside issues and limit congestion and our environmental impact as the number of e-commerce deliveries rise. That’s why we’ve launched more than 30 cycle logistic pilot projects all around the world, using our innovative e-assist cargo bikes to deliver in the last mile (link).

 

We’ve also explored data-sharing partnerships through academic institutions (link) and innovation incubators (link) to help better understand what drives congestion and how to best address that challenge. And far away from the latest techno-wizardry, UPS has long been a proponent of good old-fashioned driver safety (link), a commitment that’s a fundamental part of our DNA and also reflected in initiatives like the UPS Road Code (link) and The Global Road Safety Initiative (link).

 

Critically, it’s important to understand that there’s no silver bullet solution to curbside management or congestion issues, apart from continued collaboration. And as last-mile delivery solutions change – from e-cargo bikes to robot dogs (link) to the cutest burrito burro you’ve ever seen (link), that level of collaboration will need to be even greater, because each solution requires new considerations about land use, right of way, staging areas, and generally how things are signed, coded and regulated.

 

Managing the curb probably isn’t the sexiest transportation topic on the planet, but its ripple effect on other aspects of how people and goods get around is enormous. Cities are at the cusp of a whole-scale mobility revolution, with e-commerce and transportation network companies as just the tip of the iceberg. Working together to deliver better curb solutions is the first step in improving quality of life in the places we call home.

www.coord.co/post/time-to-step-up-our-curbs