The City of Buffalo has secured a SMART Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to deploy a “Smart Curb” pilot combining sensors, digital and e-paper signage, and real-time data integration aimed at improving emergency vehicle access and curb management.
The project, branded Smart Curb Buffalo, will launch in three districts: the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (a roughly 10-block “Medical Corridor”), downtown’s Chippewa entertainment district, and the Canalside waterfront area. Sensors will record curb usage and parking occupancy, feeding updates to digital signage that alerts drivers to parking restrictions or availability and relays emergency notifications.
The city has partnered with technology firm Umojo for system deployment. Equipment installation is slated to begin in late 2025, with signage rollouts following in early 2026 and spring 2026.
Though the total investment for Buffalo’s pilot was not disclosed in public documents, the SMART Grants program has awarded over $85 million in Implementation Grants across eight projects so far.
If successful, Buffalo aims to expand the system citywide and integrate it with its EMS and city open data platforms to improve traffic enforcement, emergency response times, and curb utilization.
