Curbs Are Plentiful, But the Info About Them Isn’t Great. A New App Could Change That

An app called Surveyor is making it easier to collect better data on curbs.

2 minute read

November 1, 2018, 7:00 AM PDT

By Camille Fink


Los Angeles Theater Sidewalk

Visitor7 / Wikimedia Commons

Kyle Wiggers reports on the startup Coord, which developed an app called Surveyor to locate curbs and catalog information about them. Existing data leaves a lot to be desired, says Wiggers:

The trouble is, the data’s often incomplete, and in some cases erroneous. Trees and other obstructions obscure street signs. Miscalibrated vehicle headings make it tough (and sometimes impossible) to suss out locations. And curb cuts, loading zones, meter prices, and curb paint aren’t consistently visible from street level.

The app allows users to mark the start and end of a curb space and note any features. Surveyor then adds the location to a 3-D map. So far, Coord has gathered data on 12,000 curbs in San Francisco and Los Angeles, along with earlier data it collected from 200,000 curbs in various cities and 86 percent of tollways in the United States, reports Wiggers.

Coord’s broader goal is to provide data to public agencies and companies on different modes and street elements, says Wiggers:

Toll agencies can tap Coord’s APIs [application programming interface] to calculate toll prices and communicate them through an app, for example, and bike-sharing companies could leverage its location datasets to pinpoint stations on a map. And cities can use it to better allocate parking zones and manage the flow of traffic.

Surveyor is currently a subscription service that helps participating organizations and agencies develop local databases.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018 in VentureBeat

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight