Miami-Dade County SMART Curbs Program

Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) received funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) grant program to improve curbside management, bike lane safety, and zero-emission urban freight through technology, sustainability, and community input.

As research partner, the Urban Freight Lab’s role includes shaping the pilot design, ensuring grant compliance, advising on technology integration, informing policy development, and leading shared learning across cities.

Selected from 392 applications nationwide, this project is part of a broader multi-city effort to build safer, more equitable and more sustainable freight systems by leveraging innovative technology and data.

Background

The Miami-Dade County SMART Curbs Program aims to transform streets across Miami-Dade County, Florida, with safer, cleaner, and more connected delivery solutions. Led by Miami-Dade DTPW and funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) grant program, this project combines advanced technologies, sustainable logistics, and public engagement to reduce emissions, improve bike lane safety, and support zero-emissions deliveries.

As part of a national multi-city collaboration, the program addresses complex challenges such as e-delivery and micro-freight monitoring, secure curb access and parking, and shared data tools to support better freight planning, policy development, and the modernization of last-mile delivery infrastructure.

Goals

The SMART Curbs Program goals are:

Create Safer Streets: Minimize roadway risks and reduce congestion with better curbside management and the adoption of zero-emission vehicles
Protect the Climate: Support Miami-Dade County’s climate goals by reducing emissions, promoting clean air, and encouraging sustainable delivery practices
Boost the Local Economy: Increase delivery efficiency, create jobs in last-mile logistics, and support the management of MicroFreight hubs
Engage the Community: Ensure input from all residents to guide planning and implementation.

The program includes SMART Loading Zones throughout Downtown Miami and Brickell. These zones are dedicated spaces designed to:

Streamline freight deliveries
Reduce curbside congestion
Improve urban safety
Advance zero-emission transportation goals

By addressing high-traffic areas with innovative solutions, SMART Loading Zones will create a more organized and efficient curbside experience for residents, businesses, and delivery drivers.

Urban Freight Lab Scope of Work

Task 1 – Project Management and QA/QC

Task 2 – Grant compliance and project management capacity support

The Subcontractor will work with Cityfi to aid the Client in certain elements of grant reporting and compliance. These include support of DTPW in development of the required Evaluation and Measurement Plan, compilation of the findings of said plan, problem statement definition and research framing.

Task 3 — Best Practices and State of the Industry Research

The Subcontractor will provide technical advice and best practice research, in particular, on the urban freight industry and operations. Research will include collaboration with DTPW project manager to assess pilot design in line with freight industry and local community needs.

Task 4 — Conceptual Design Support

The Subcontractor will support Cityfi, the Client, and public engagement and technology partners to allow DTPW to craft a conceptual design for demonstration deployment. Design will include multiple demonstration sites, assessment of anticipated users, integration of multiple technology partners, and public interface of technologies.

Task 5 — Technology Partner Integration Support

Multiple technologies and public agencies are involved in the micro-freight and smart curb zone demonstration. These entities must work together for a successful integrated demonstration. This will likely include new product development to enable the necessary integration and deliver outcomes desired by the County.

Task 6 — Policy and Regulatory Support

As with any new technology, form factor or service model, there is a high likelihood that new or revised policies, procedures or even regulations will be necessary to facilitate their demonstration and ultimate deployment. The Subcontractor will support Cityfi and DTPW with necessary policy assessments.

Task 7 — Collaborative Learnings and Exchange

DTPW was selected for a grant award as a member of a multi-city collaborative. It is the expectation of USDOT that DTPW will engage in shared learnings and exchange with other members of the collaborative to accelerate innovation and improvement across the nine participating cities.

Task 8 — Phase I Summary and Phase II Grant Support

At the conclusion of Phase I, DTPW must submit an array of materials to USDOT to compete for Phase II funding for expansion and scaling. The Subcontractor will support Cityfi in preparing an evaluation and summary report of the Phase I demonstration documenting indicators, accomplishments and outcomes as necessary to inform Phase II application.

Paper

Autonomous delivery vehicle acceptance: The moderating role of perceived risk of theft

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URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2024.12.022

Publication: Transport Policy

Volume: 162

Pages: 406-423

Publication Date: 2025

Summary:

This study explores what influences people’s willingness to use Autonomous Delivery Vehicles (ADVs), incorporating factors like social influence, environmental concern, enjoyment, and perceived security risks to better understand public perception.

Abstract

This paper assesses the public acceptance of Autonomous Delivery Vehicles (ADVs) by extending the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), incorporating subjective norms, environmental concerns, and hedonic motivations alongside the original TAM constructs. The perceived security risk of theft is also defined and included in the model to explore its moderating role. Data was collected from an online survey of 1567 participants in different cities in Iran. The survey incorporated two open-ended questions as part of a qualitative approach to assessing control beliefs, exploring both the facilitators and barriers influencing people’s intentions. Based on structural equation modeling, findings highlight the strong impact of subjective norms and perceived usefulness on intention, along with the significant effect of attitudes and environmental concern. The moderating effect of the perceived security risk of theft is significant in perceived ease of use and hedonic motivations’ interactions with attitudes. Exploring the responses from open-ended questions showed that the majority of respondents perceived that using ADVs could help the environment, while the risk of stealing ADVs was identified as the main barrier to adopting them in urban settings.

Authors: Arsalan Esmaili, Sina Rejali (Queensland University of Technology), Kayvan Aghabayk (University of Tehran), Amin Mohammadi (University of Tabriz), Chris De Gruyter (RMIT University)

Recommended Citation:
Esmaili, Arsalan & Rejali, Sina & Aghabayk, Kayvan & Mohammadi, Amin & De Gruyter, Chris, 2025. "Autonomous delivery vehicle acceptance: The moderating role of perceived risk of theft," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 406-423.

Student Thesis and Dissertations

Using Technology to Revolutionize Public Transportation

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URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/16613

Publication Date: 2011

Summary:

Public transportation could be an important component of a solution to providing mobility while reducing traffic congestion and the environmental impact of transportation. However, from a customer perspective, a mobility choice is only a choice if it is fast, comfortable and reliable. This research looks at the reliability of public transportation and the use of easy-to-access information to combat the inherent unreliability and other barriers to increased use that exist in the system. The first section investigates the characteristics of transit service that are associated with on-time performance. The second and third sections discuss results of a survey and wait time assessment of OneBusAway, a real-time next bus countdown information source. The results of the survey indicate that OneBusAway users have an increased satisfaction with public transportation, as well as a perception of a decreased waiting time, increased number of transit trips per week, increased feelings of safety, and an increased distance walked compared with before they used OneBusAway. The follow-up study finds that for riders without real-time information, perceived wait time is greater than measured wait time. However, riders using real-time information do not perceive their wait time to be longer than their measured wait time. In addition, mobile real-time information reduces not only the perceived wait time, but also the actual wait time experienced by customers. The final three sections discuss other potential transit information tools that overcome the barriers to increased public transportation use. The Explore tool, an Attractions Search Tool, is described. Explore makes use of an underlying trip planner to search online databases of local restaurants, shopping, parks and other amenities based on transit availability from the user’s origin. In the fifth and sixth sections, the Value Sensitive Design process is used to brainstorm and assess additional transit tools from the user and the bus driver perspective. As a whole, this work gives credence to the notion that the power of improved access to information can help overcome the barriers to increased transit use.

Authors: Kari E. Watkins

Recommended Citation:
Watkins, Kari E. (2011) Using Technology to Revolutionize Public Transportation. University of Washington Doctoral Dissertation.