Software solutions business Grid Smarter Cities is marking one year of delivering more efficient freight loading and unloading in a busy high street in London.
The company’s Kerb® solution was introduced in February 2024 in Walworth Road in the London Borough of Southwark, London’s first scheme enabling freight drivers to book their kerbside loading slots on a high street in advance.
Delivery drivers book a slot using the Kerb® app, and when they arrive, the space is waiting and they can pull straight in – meaning no more loitering in the carriageway or circling the roads. Grid Smarter Cities has even developed a two-sided e-ink digital sign to go on the kerbside which integrates with the platform to display the booked vehicle’s details – its registration number and time slot.
Southwark has embraced the idea as part of its Streets to People strategy – a commitment to improve residents’ quality of life and take action on climate change, by changing how people travel and use streets in the borough. Among other things, the strategy commits to deliver cleaner air and safer and quieter streets with less traffic and fewer accidents, while supporting healthier travel options like walking, cycling or wheeling. By better managing the kerbside and reducing congestion caused by freight deliveries, transport operators can go a long way to delivering these aims, reducing congestion and improving safety through operators having dedicated areas and timeslots where and when they need them.
“We’ve had some great successes in the year,” commented Mark Palmer, Parking Quality and Policy Manager at Southwark Council. “HGV drivers need to access a specific bay at particular times of the day,” he explained. “Previously, if the bay was in use, drivers had to stack their trucks further away, preventing them from fulfilling deliveries. Now, they can pre-book bays up to a year in advance, ensuring they have a designated parking spot whenever they need”.
Utilisation of the loading bay through bookings is running ahead of expectations, and a local businesses are regularly applying to join the scheme as they see others benefit from the pre-booked spaces. Grid Smarter Cities has also delivered kerbside solutions in Westminster, the City of London, Richmond, Camden and Lambeth.
“Walworth Road, like many high streets in London, is a bustling area where conflict between numerous different types of users could occur quite quickly,” comments Director of UK Sales Laura Jacklin. “When we first launched the bookable kerb with Southwark a year ago, we wanted to bring a system which could confidently manage the loading bays for business in this area and alleviate non-compliance in the bays. Throughout the year, we have created great relationships with the businesses, operators and enforcement team, and we have seen in the data a continuous increase in utilisation and of people joining the scheme. This has created a harmonious environment and ensures businesses thrive in such a busy high street”
The Kerb® solution is designed to take the kerb from a ‘first come first served’ piece of city infrastructure into a flexible, dynamic bookable, optimisable and monetisable city asset, delivering significant impacts for last mile logistics and beneficial environmental and societal outcomes for cities.
(Picture – Grid Smarter Cities)
