At least five additional German cities have already signed smart parking deals with the telco
Deutsche Telekom is working with the city government of Bonn, in Germany, to implement a smart parking initiative in the city.
The telco said its Park and Joy app will enable drivers to get an overview of available parking spots in downtown Bonn and pay for them direct from their cell phones.
The pilot project is scheduled to start in 2018. By the end of 2019, a large proportion of the city center’s managed parking spaces are to be networked, so that drivers can reach their destinations faster and more conveniently, Deutsche Telekom said.
In the following phase, multi-story car parks and private parking spaces are to be integrated into the network as well and the smart city solution expanded to include connections to public transportation. The meshed network will allow drivers to advance book parking spots in gated areas such as multi-story car parks. Deutsche Telekom also highlighted that the solution will help alleviate traffic congestion in the inner city and reduce emissions.
“All drivers wish they could park their vehicles without worry and stress. We offer an app that makes parking a breeze: find your parking spot, book it and pay for it,” said Anette Bronder, head of T-Systems’ digital division. “We can offer city governments and operators of private car parks a platform for optimal parking management that can be used across Germany.”
Over the next two years paid parking spots in the city center of Bonn will be equipped with sensors, so that vacant spaces can be displayed in the app in real time. The sensors indicate whether a parking space is vacant by communicating through a narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) solution.
Several German cities including Hamburg, Dortmund, Moers, Duisburg and Darmstadt have already signed agreements with Deutsche Telekom for smart parking initiatives.
