Pilot Project Using Vehicle-to-Curb (V2C) Technologies Projected a 50 Percent Reduction in Unauthorized Vehicle Use at Commercial Vehicle Load Zones.
Seattle Department of Transportation Tested and Evaluated V2C Technologies in Two Downtown Business Districts.
Seattle, Washington, United States
Last-Mile Freight Curb Access: Digitizing the Last-Mile of Urban Goods to Improve Curb Access and Utilization
Summary Information
The City of Seattle’s Commercial Vehicle Load Zones (CVLZ) and Commercial Load Permit (CLP) programs were designed over 30 years ago to help regulate and manage curb access. However, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) found that over 80 percent of vehicles using CVLZs were unauthorized and did not have a valid CLP. Recognizing that its tools were no longer sufficient in the face of growing curb demand and technological change, SDOT launched the first phase of a pilot program in its Belltown and Denny Triangle business districts in 2024 with the aim of 1) understanding commercial vehicle curb access through data collection and stakeholder engagement and 2) improving curb access through digital permitting and monitoring tools. The pilot was the foundation for a data-driven, modernized CLP program to further Seattle’s safety and economic development goals.
METHODOLOGY
SDOT chose two business districts as the Stage One pilot area for V2C technologies, data collection, and policy review for the commercial vehicle load zone and permit analysis. SDOT evaluated V2C infrastructure to see if it could identify vehicles at specific CVLZs and use that information to communicate real-time space availability, specifically:
- 27 single space parking meters with vehicle detection camera sensors and tap card technology.
- 24 solar-powered snapshot cameras using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer vision.
The project, conducted in 2024, included baseline data collection and analysis of 30 block faces using conventional video cameras followed by two rounds (two days each) of data collection using V2C sensors and cameras. SDOT also engaged a vendor to create a digital inventory of all its curb regulations in curb data specification (CDS) format.
FINDINGS
- SDOT’s evaluation found that that under varied conditions, V2C technology achieved a 98 percent daily detection rate for parking events in each CVLZ.
- By enabling automated curb and sign inventories with real-time analytics, the system can reduce the need for ad hoc manual studies and generate an estimated $100,000 in annual cost savings.
SDOT planned a second phase that scales the pilot project efforts citywide. The agency anticipated the following projected benefits of at-scale implementation based on findings from phase I:
- A 50 percent reduction in unauthorized CVLZ use through V2C data-driven curb regulations, space allocation, and digital permitting.
- A 28 percent reduction in commercial vehicle cruising as a result of providing real-time availability information.
- A 15 percent increase in the number of permit holders once the value of permits is demonstrated.
SDOT also concluded that the AI cameras did not show potential for scaling due to challenges in solar powered battery performance, AI computer vision configurations, and data integration.
