Coord | Futureproofing mobility using open data

Stephen Smyth, CEO of Coord, shares how the platform uses kerb data to enable cities to regulate transportation infrastructure, and prepare for future transport alternatives in already densely populated areas.

Name | Coord

Target audience | Coord provides licences to government agencies, architects, planners, consultants, software engineers and mobility providers.

Challenge | The demand for space in cities as populations grow is expected to continue at a tremendous pace for the next few decades. It’s predicted that 70% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2050, and that doesn’t even cover people commuting into cities for jobs.

As a result, the mobility industry is growing with new options for transport entering the market and looking forward to the near future, the arrival of autonomous vehicles.

Mercedes’ concept of an autonomous long haul truck

Kerbs, or curbs in American, are no longer just used for parking, they’re now pick-up zones for the Ubers and Lyfts of the world and places to park up shared scooters and bikes. With this growth comes an emerging need for cities, mobility operators and commuters to find ways for the increasing transport options to integrate with already packed roads and kerbs.

Solution | The data startup is on a mission to improve mobility and expand access to opportunities through the use of technology. The company aims to help government agencies, architects, engineers, and construction firms get the data they need to build and regulate transportation infrastructure in a way that works best for everyone in the city.

Coord also works with logistics and mobility companies to help optimise trip planning and better comply with parking and time of day regulations. The company refers to this as last metre logistics, the next step after what is considered to be the final stage of the delivery process – last mile logistics.

The company released Surveyor last year, an app that uses augmented reality to code the rules of kerbs at a fraction of the cost of traditional surveying methods. As a next step, Coord has launched Open Curbs, a public kerb data source for users to access and share standardised baseline kerb data from a single source. The data published includes locations and descriptions of assets from fire hydrants to parking signs found along the club. The data has initially come from Surveyor, with plans to support other kerb asset data sources on the platform.

Open Curbs is a public kerb data source for users to access and share standardised baseline kerb data from a single source. Click to expand

Results | The platform aims to eliminate the siloed nature of kerb data today and bridge information barriers between the public and private sectors. Coord hopes its open data system will enable cities to innovate their kerbs, increase the efficiency of current transport, help new transport options provide better services, speed up negotiations for construction firms and reduce environmental impact.

Clients | Coord’s Open Curbs initiative has launched in Santa Monica, Denver, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Hector Soliman-Valdez, mobility manager of business improvement district, Downtown Santa Monica said: “Having a complete picture of the current designations of our district’s kerbs helps us prepare for the future that is already here.

“By this I mean the immense pressure that we have to convert our kerbs into dynamic spaces that serve multiple uses at different times of the day. With this data in hand we can better engage transnational companies, delivery companies and others to reduce their impact on our transportation network all the while increasing their efficiency.”