park

Verband Region Stuttgart and Robert Bosch have collaborated to launch a pilot project on active parking lot management in Stuttgart, Germany.

The aim of the project is to notify drivers about available parking spaces in a park-and-ride area.

This information will encourage more motorists to park their cars at the parking lots and use commuter rail services.

The facility will be available at 15 park-and-ride lots along the S2 (Schorndorf) and S3 (Backnang) commuter train lines.

Bosch sensors will be used to locate vacant parking spaces on a minute-by-minute basis.

The real-time data will then be delivered to drivers through the VVS Transit and Tariff Association Stuttgart app and website.

"We’re taking the search for free park-and-ride spaces off drivers’ shoulders."

The project will start next year, with the installation of Bosch sensors, and is expected to be completed by June 2018.

Occupancy levels will be examined and analysed to ensure if the real-time information on park-and-ride spaces actually encourages more drivers to avail services of buses and trains.

Robert Bosch member of the board of management Dr Dirk Hoheisel said: "With our sensors, we’re making the parking spaces part of the internet of things.

"We’re taking the search for free park-and-ride spaces off drivers’ shoulders.

"By doing so, we’re reducing the congestion associated with the search for parking and minimising environmental impact."

The project will be supported by 11 cities and communities in the north-east of the greater Stuttgart area.

They have agreed to provide internet connections and electricity for the park-and-ride facilities, the majority of which are owned and operated by local municipalities.

Verband Region Stuttgart will fund this project from a state-wide programme aimed at transforming the region into a model of sustainability.

Verband Region Stuttgart regional director Dr Nicola Schelling said: "By incorporating the latest technology in this project, we’re improving service in the region."

For several years, the availability of parking spaces inside urban parking garages were identified by counting the number of times the gates open.

The facilities used in the pilot project do not require any gates and some have more than one entrance or exit.

There are more than 100 park-and-ride lots in the Stuttgart region with 50 to 700 parking spaces.

The smallest area in the pilot project features 49 parking spaces while the largest has 520 spaces.

Image: The pilot project will facilitate drivers identify available parking spaces. Photo: courtesy of Bosch Media Service.