Boston opens AI-powered ‘Curb Lab’ to optimize public spaces
Boston’s Office of Emerging Technology is putting artificial intelligence to work on one of the city’s infrastructure challenges: managing curb space.
The Boston Curb Lab, which launched this month with funding from a Department of Transportation SMART Grant, uses artificial intelligence to manage a database of curb regulations and help support smarter policy decisions across the city.
Curbs serve a variety of purposes — as loading zones, bike and bus stops, accessible drop-offs and outdoor dining areas. To manage these competing demands, cities must regulate and optimize the use of spaces between roadways and sidewalks.
The Curb Lab is also digitizing parking rules into a searchable citywide map, for residents, delivery drivers, urban planners and businesses.
“Every delivery truck circling for a loading zone adds congestion and emissions. Every unclear sign and process creates unnecessary confusion and safety risks,” Michael Lawrence Evans, director of the Office of Emerging Technology said in a press release about the project. “These problems affect how people get around, how businesses operate, and the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The Curb Lab is our answer to that challenge.”
The Curb Lab is also applying the Curb Data Specification, a “mechanism” supplied by the Open Mobility Foundation that helps cities manage curb zones, loading restrictions and time limits, to create a real-time inventory of how curb spaces are used across the city. Officials said the data supplied by the specification can support public notifications, improve safety, help track delivery congestion and reduce unnecessary cruising for parking — a growing source of urban traffic and emissions.
“For over 40 years, our curb data has lived in disconnected systems that didn’t talk to each other,” Amelia Capone, Boston’s director of parking and curbside management, said in the press release. “Through the Curb Lab’s leadership, we’re finally able to link these systems together. That means less duplication of work, faster response times to constituent requests, and better internal coordination that will directly improve traffic flow and safety on our streets.”
Boston is only the latest city to adopt the use of AI and other IT tools for better curb management. In 2024, Ann Arbor, a college town in Michigan, implemented a digital curb inventory as part of a strategy to reduce violations and manage parking demand. Minneapolis and Seattle, too, have each used SMART grants to balance the demands of freight delivery and other commercial services with pedestrians.
