Dive Brief:
- In partnership with Uber and Lyft, the city of Laguna Beach, CA is designating three ride-share pickup and dropoff locations along the busy Coast Highway in order to increase safety and limit congestion.
- The three spots — at Ocean Avenue, Laguna Avenue and Brooks Street — will get dedicated signage. The city said nearby businesses will also be educated about the pickup spots.
- Laguna Beach says it’s the second West Coast city to cement such a partnership with Uber and Lyft.
Dive Insight:
Even as ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft have said they are taking cars off the road, the frequent pickup and dropoff activity has contributed to more congestion, especially along busy corridors. Combined with the proliferation of e-commerce, which has increased curbside delivery, the safety and traffic issues have become a burden for some cities.
That burden has led several cities to restrict Uber and Lyft activity along busy streets. Washington, DC, for example, has created dedicated ride-hailing spots in six neighborhoods. In partnership with San Francisco, Lyft has instituted its own geofencing system to direct some traffic to side streets. Cities have said the moves are successful in not just clearing up traffic, but in increasing safety; Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city’s curbside policy helped to "reduce conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists” and advance Vision Zero efforts.
Uber has even said it would work with the nonprofit SharedStreets to offer data to cities on curbside choke points. In a speech last year, Meghan Joyce, the company’s regional general manager for the U.S. and Canada, said it aimed to “ensure everyone who needs to use the curbside is doing so in a safe, responsible and easy way.”