New Boston lab uses AI and open data to improve kerb management

This initiative continues Boston’s ongoing kerb modernisation work funded by the US Department of Transportation Smart grant, awarded in 2024. The lab includes partners across the City of Boston, including the Streets Cabinet, Innovation and Technology Cabinet, Office of the Parking Clerk, Office of New Mobility, and Citywide Analytics team.

These teams are putting this digital inventory to work, building systems and harnessing data that will reduce costs over time, help coordinate kerb decisions, and improve efficiency.

“Boston is setting the standard for how cities manage kerb space in the 21st century”

“For over 40 years, our kerb data has lived in disconnected systems that didn’t talk to each other,” said Amelia Capone, director of parking and kerbside management, Office of the Parking Clerk. “Through the [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.”

City permitting tools

The kerb lab uses the kerb data specification (CDS), an open standard developed by the Open Mobility Foundation. CDS makes information about parking rules, loading zones, time restrictions, and other kerb regulations available to the systems residents and businesses already use – mapping apps, delivery platforms, and City permitting tools. It also means other cities can adopt Boston’s approach without building everything from scratch.

“Boston is setting the standard for how cities manage kerb space in the 21st century,” said Andrew Glass Hastings, executive director of the Open Mobility Foundation. “As a member of the OMF’s Smart Kerb Collaborative, they have fully embraced the challenge, and they’re the first to build and deploy these tools at scale using CDS – and they’re making it widely accessible so other cities can follow. What Boston is doing today, cities across the country will be able to do tomorrow.”