Tech Companies Vie to Monetize the Curb and Reinvent Street Parking
Startups are scrambling to disrupt the post-pandemic parking sector, arguing that real-time data will mean less traffic and more revenue for cities.
Real-time data can bring parking management up to date, several startups say.
Photographer: Bill Tompkins/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
The humble curb is getting a lot of attention these days.
Over the last decade, the street ballet of cars, trucks and delivery vans has gained new players like ride-hailing vehicles and rented bikes and e-scooters. Add in a pandemic that turbocharged the instant-delivery ecosystem, turned parking spaces into dining rooms, and upended long-held commuting patterns, and the space beside the sidewalk has become increasingly coveted real estate. To impose order on — and extract revenue from — the crowded urban curbside, a host of private companies are jostling for market position.