A Collaborative Plan for Curbside Freight Delivery in Washington, DC, USA

Although many cities restrict truck parking in downtown areas, these restrictions make it difficult for trucking companies to deliver shipments to downtown businesses. This paper highlights a collaborative effort in Washington DC to provide a practical and acceptable solution to the use of downtown curbsides for freight delivery. To manage the traffic congestion problem along K Street, a major arterial road that has service roads on both sides, the District Department of Transportation partnered with area business improvement districts to develop a congestion management program. The congestion management program included curb space allocation strategies. The collaborative process involved local government agencies, property managers and retail businesses, and freight delivery companies. Strategies included reallocation of curb space and revised regulatory signage, longer loading zones, new multi-space meters, metered loading zones and enhanced parking enforcement and citations. A travel time study indicates that automobile and bicycle travel times were reduced after these strategies were implemented. The strategies used in this project, along with the lessons learned, can provide guidance to other cities with similar issues.