Results of three-month research project with curb side reservation app
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
DDOT, curbFlow Research Project Finds High Demand for Pickup, Dropoff Zones
Summary Information
The Washington, DC District Department of Transportation (DDOT) conducted a three-month research project with the mobility services company curbFlow to analyze demand at DC's curbside space for commercial pick up and drop off (PUDO) activities. The company coordinates commercial operator PUDO in real time using an app that allows drivers to reserve curb space.
The project removed parking spaces to create loading zones for commercial activities at nine locations across Washington, DC. The zones were used by both commercial vehicles and private vehicles operating in a commercial capacity.
Data were collected from 6,350 commercial drivers representing more than 900 companies with 15,000 reservations made across DC. Highlights from the research project include:
- Incidents of double and illegal U-turns decreased by an estimated 64 percent in immediate proximity to the PUDO zones.
- On-demand delivery (e.g. online food delivery services), freight and parcel deliveries lasted an average of 7-11 minutes, while rideshare and taxi PUDO activity lasted less than two and a half minutes on average.
- On-demand deliveries were the most frequent users of the curbFlow PUDO zones, followed by freight and parcel deliveries.
