Press Release - SFMTA SMART Grant Award
Today, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced that the SFMTA has been awarded a Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants award in the amount of $1,999,607 from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Digital Curb Program. The Digital Curb Program will provide the public with a complete, up-to-date, real-time picture of every asset and regulation on San Francisco’s curbs.
The SMART Grant was established by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and funds projects that focus on using technology interventions to solve real-world challenges facing communities.
The funds will be used to assemble, maintain, disseminate, and analyze curb data, including providing funding for the prime contractor, administrative and project support costs as well costs for the SFMTA staffing and project team overhead. We are thankful to the Biden-Harris Administration, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and our federal and state delegation who wrote letters of support, including Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, State Senator Scott Wiener, Assemblymember Matt Haney, Assemblymember Phil Ting, Mayor London Breed, District 3 Supervisor and Board of Supervisor President Aaron Peskin, District 9 Supervisor Hilary Ronen, District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton.
The SMART program was established to provide grants to eligible public sector agencies to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems in order to improve transportation efficiency and safety. The SMART Grants Program funds purpose-driven innovation to build data and technology capacity and expertise for State, local, and Tribal governments.
“This is amazing news! I am so grateful to our state and federal leaders who helped push this forward. The Digital Curb Program is helping us modernize how we manage one of our most scarce and valuable resources, curbside parking and loading spaces,” said Jeffrey Tumlin, Director of Transportation. “We can’t manage what we can’t measure. With better digital tools, we can direct all motorists to the closest available space – including ridehail, delivery and autonomous vehicles. We hope the result will be better convenience and less double-parking.”
The Digital Curb’s complete, accurate and up-to-date map of all curb regulations is an essential foundation for safer and more efficient pick-ups and drop-offs at curbs across the city, better data about where parking and loading space is available, improved enforcement, and ensuring that the growing number of delivery services on San Francisco’s streets pay their fair share. It will allow integration with Muni Mobile, the bike share system, and scooter share providers to give people better alternatives for getting around. It will also save thousands of hours of staff time, while providing detailed regulation information that can be used by the public.
For more information, please visit Digital Curb Program or Curb Management.