Hoboken's Curbs Are Going Digital

Transportation officials in Hoboken, New Jersey — a suburb of New York City  — are digitizing their curbs into a real-time, digital city map. According to an article by Skip Descant in Government Technology, the effort is part of a project called The Curb Reimagined, a joint effort between the city, transportation tech platform Populus, and urban design firm Kimley-Horn.  

The overall goal of the project is to transition the “streetscape from static, inflexible uses to more dynamic places capable of adjusting quickly,” Descant writes. “The end result should be a multidimensional map layered with details relevant to curbside problems like congestion and double parking, and to handling competitors for curb space like deliveries, ride-hailing and micromobility.”

Hoboken joins other cities like Seattle and Portland, Oregon, using digital tools to solve pain points and work to meet various city priorities, from parking to emissions goals. 

“The project in Hoboken will enable the city to integrate and compare real-time parking data against curbside demand and revenue, a Populus leader said. The development of a database that includes curb and parking regulations will be part of a process known as “coding the city’s curbs,” creating information that can be digitally communicated with the city’s fleets,” Descant reports. The digital curb map will also be made public to keep residents and businesses informed.