For businesses tasked with delivering food, packages, or even passengers, the final leg of the journey—often referred to as the last-mile—is the most chaotic.
Across the U.S., the surge in e-commerce, food delivery, and ridesharing has turned curb space into one of the most hotly contested areas in urban planning. And as cities convert more curb areas into outdoor dining, bike lanes, or pedestrian spaces, commercial drivers are often left circling the block in search of anywhere to legally stop.
The result?
More congestion.
More emissions.
More delays.
And a major headache for cities and delivery companies alike.
The Last-Mile Supply Crunch
INRIX Parking data was used to evaluate 20 major U.S. cities and their capacity to accommodate commercial deliveries.
- San Diego led with the highest share of curb space dedicated to loading (12.8%).
- Portland ranked lowest, with just 0.5% of curbside parking set aside for deliveries.
- In cities like New York, the situation has grown so severe that residential deliveries now account for 80% of total deliveries-double the pre-2020 levels.
With limited supply and rising demand, delivery drivers are often forced to double-park, block bike lanes, or circle endlessly, wasting time and fuel while increasing safety risks for everyone.
The True Cost of the Curb Crunch
INRIX found that in Seattle, delivery drivers spend nearly six minutes looking for parking on average. And studies show that when search times exceed 1.6 minutes, it becomes more efficient to reroute to a central location and deliver from there.
This is where data becomes not just useful—but transformative.
INRIX Smart Delivery Suite
To help cities and businesses combat the last-mile chaos, INRIX developed the Smart Delivery Suite—a powerful platform that blends:
- Real-time and historical traffic data
- Curb availability and restrictions
- Parking types and probabilities
- Dynamic routing and predictive ETAs
Whether you’re a fleet manager or a city planner, the Smart Delivery Suite helps optimize routes, reduce emissions, improve safety, and boost delivery performance.
Key Highlights:
- Covers nearly 5 million miles of U.S roads
- Offers parking data in 400+ U.S cities
- Achieves 100% incident detection, per Frost & Sullivan
- Fully map-agnostic and easily integrated with any mapping platform
The INRIX Smart Delivery Suite is a comprehensive set of tools that helps delivery and mobility businesses optimize routes, outsmart traffic, and avoid incidents to ensure deliveries are safe and on-time – every time. The Suite is powered by historical, real-time and predictive traffic, road incidents and closures, dynamic routing, on-street parking locations by type (loading zones, restricted, paid, etc.) and probability of finding a spot.
Smart Solutions for a Complex Challenge
The last-mile isn’t just a logistics issue—it’s a citywide challenge that affects traffic, safety, and sustainability. While cities like New York are making strides to address curb constraints, widespread solutions require smart, data-driven tools that deliver results Thats where INRIX comes in. Backed by two decades of transportation innovation and trusted by agencies worldwide, INRIX is helping cities and companies tackle the curb crunch head-on.
Learn more about INRIX Parking data at inrix.com/products/parking-data-software/ or about INRIX Smart Delivery Suite at inrix.com/products/smart-delivery-suite/.