Curb Management
Our curbside can be dynamic public space - if we stop giving it away to free parking.
The Problem
Curbside space in New York City is currently not managed effectively or holistically, and it has lead to chaos at the curb. There are many competing uses - freight deliveries, food deliveries, trash collection, transit lanes - but the vast majority of the space is designated for the storage of private vehicles.
When a delivery truck pulls up to a building, it’s forced to block the surrounding car traffic, bus lanes or micromobility lanes. While car owners feel entitled to free curbside parking, cyclists search for scarce and informal spots to lock up. While New York City’s trash bags pile up on the sidewalk and block pedestrians’ way, the average car sits in a parking spot, unused, 95% of the time. This is not the way a 21st-century city should be designed.
The Solution: A New Curb Framework
The DOT should actively manage the curb with a holistic planning approach that prioritizes allocating curb space to those uses that provide the greatest amount of access and serve the highest number of people. While the NYC Streets Plan recognizes the need for curbside management and parking reform, there is little detail on what this might look like.
Streets are public spaces that should be publicly accessible - and that includes the space at the curb. Allocating a few paid parking spaces on each block makes sense, but there are so many other uses for that space that would benefit the public: neckdowns at intersections to keep pedestrians safe, loading zones that would reduce double parking (and honking and idling), bike corrals that fit ten bikes in the space of one car, trash corrals, car share spots, parklets with benches and trees.
