Kerbside management company Grid Smarter Cities launched a new version of its Kerb® platform, introducing simpler booking, bulk reservations and enhanced analytics to help delivery drivers, fleet operators and local authorities manage kerbside space.
The mobile and desktop apps build on the company’s award-winning technology, which enables freight operators to reserve loading space before arrival, reducing the need to circle streets or wait in the carriageway while looking for somewhere to unload.
Announcing the new platform, the company explained how it is designed to make using Kerb® “simpler, smoother and more valuable for delivery drivers, operators and local authorities”. Existing users will retain their login details and their bookings will transfer to the new system.
For fleet operators and councils, the updated web app will allow multiple bookings to be created at once, reducing administration when managing larger fleets and delivery schedules. A DVLA lookup function will retrieve vehicle information, while enhanced dashboards and reporting will provide greater insight into booking activity, vehicle movements and usage trends.
The driver app will offer a clearer booking process, favourites for frequently used bays and vehicles, and notifications reminding users when and where their bookings take place.
Drivers will also be able to report an unauthorised vehicle occupying their booked space, with the booking moving to an alternative, pre-agreed location so they can complete their delivery.
“Our new Kerb® Driver app delivers a smarter, simpler and more intuitive experience for our users, and represents a significant milestone for Kerb®,” explained Toby Hiles, Grid Smarter Cities’ Sales and Partnership Director. “Built for today, designed for tomorrow, it lays the foundations for something much bigger – evolving beyond booking individual kerbside spaces to intelligently orchestrating access across entire cities, powered by hyperlocal, real-time decision-making that responds dynamically to the needs of people, places and the activities taking place at the kerb.”
The announcement follows the permanent introduction of Grid Smarter Cities’ bookable loading bays on Walworth Road in Southwark. Introduced in February 2024, the scheme was made permanent in April 2025 following a successful trial, managing five loading bays with digital booking and dynamic on-street signage.
Analysis by consultancy Stantec indicated that the scheme contributed to a 40% reduction equivalent in Penalty Charge Notices for operators using the bays in 2024, with an estimated first-year benefit-cost ratio of 3.8. Its analysis also suggested time savings could allow a single supermarket supplier to make up to 66 additional deliveries annually.
The Kerb® solution won the inaugural Future of Parking Award at the 2025 British Parking Awards, adding to its previous ITS UK Project of the Year and Better Environment through Technology awards.
Research has also highlighted the potential for bookable loading space to ease pressures on delivery drivers. A peer-reviewed study involving Grid Smarter Cities’ Virtual Loading Bay technology around Borough Market monitored 17 delivery trips using body sensors, surveys and GPS data.
Researchers identified searching for parking, uncertainty over kerbside access and time pressures as contributors to stress. Although the small pilot did not find a statistically significant reduction in overall stress following the introduction of bookable bays, the authors suggested wider deployment across delivery routes could support driver wellbeing, safer roads and more efficient freight operations.
(Picture – Grid Smarter Cities)
