REGULATING CURB SPACE: Developing a framework to understand and improve curbside management

摘要

This paper explores the existing state of curbside management in large American citiesand seeks to provide policymakers a framework for structuring future curbside managementdecisions. Curbside management, the way cities regulate and allocate curb space, has a majorimpact on the functioning of cities. Management policies differ widely across the country,reflecting decades of locally developed rules and regulations. In 2011the Philadelphia Mayor'sOffice of Transportation and Utilities, on behalf of the National Association of CityTransportation Officials (NACTO), interviewed 8 major cities on how they manage curb space.These interviews, along with a review of relevant literature, provide a snapshot of existingpractice.This paper is organized into three parts. The first section discusses the policyconsiderations associated with major curbside uses. The second section provides an overview ofhow the cities surveyed manage their curbside spaces. The final section discusses three modelsfor curbside management.Most cities utilize the Incremental Model of curbside management. Under theIncremental Model, transportation agencies gradually append existing practice over time torespond to new pressures. This model is now challenged by two emerging alternative methods ofcurbside management. The first, the Framework Model, uses comprehensive planningmethodology to produce a curbside management plan for an area. The second emerging model,The Performance-Pricing Model, uses price as the regulatory agent of curb space. The threemodels provide communities strategies for keeping curbside management policies in pace withever changing needs.