Pushed from the Curb: Optimizing the Use of Curb Space by Ride-Sourcing Vehicles

Abstract

Ride-sourcing has experienced tremendous growth in the past five years. Despite growing interest among policymakers in creating short-term loading space for ride-sourcing and other shared-mobility vehicles, researchers have largely ignored the implications of ride-sourcing on curb management policies, which traditionally favor long-term vehicle occupancy. Observing two corridors with characteristics conducive to ride-sourcing, I found that on the busier corridor, passenger loading space served four times as many passengers per hour as the equivalent space used for parking. On corridors with high ride-sourcing activity, cities can increase the productivity of curb space and discourage double-parking by converting curb parking to passenger loading spaces and charging market prices for curb use. On commercial corridors that currently lack heavy ride-sourcing usage, planners and policymakers can prioritize transit and ride-sourcing as a means to improve the curb’s transport capacity and reduce the externalities of driving.

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Original document

The different versions of the original document can be found in:

• http://dx.doi.org/10.17610/t6h013

• http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/25p966dh

• https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1rs4n2cj