Cleverciti Smart Parking Deployment in Cologne Inspires Plans for Citywide Expansion

Cleverciti®, the leading provider of integrated parking intelligence solutions, recently completed a three-year data capture and analysis of its smart parking platform across the vibrant Nippes district in Cologne. The innovative project resulted in the significant reduction of parking search times, carbon emissions, and more, and has led to the city planning a city-wide expansion as part of its Climate Neutral 2035 framework. 

Cleverciti deployed its solutions including Cleverciti Sensors, Circ® 360 LED displays, mobile app, and CleverPortal across approximately 800 on-street parking spaces in the neighborhood. Cleverciti partnered with RheinEnergie AG, a regional energy supplier based in Cologne that supplies approximately 2.5 million people with electricity, gas, water, and heat. 

As part of the Smart City Cologne project, the City is implementing several initiatives aimed at reducing emissions across the region by 50% by 2030. Cologne was suffering from high CO2 emissions, with up to 52% of emissions caused by inner-city traffic, much of which is specifically caused by drivers searching for available parking. 

The district of Cologne-Nippes is one of the busiest and most densely populated in the city, which is why it was chosen as a first deployment area. By optimizing the use of parking spaces in the area and putting a traffic management system in place that would eliminate unnecessary search traffic, RheinEnergie wanted to not only significantly reduce traffic and CO2 emissions but also improve the quality of life in the neighborhood.

The project included the integration of 89 Cleverciti overhead Sensors, providing accurate real-time information on the number, location, and direction of free spaces based on AI and deep learning algorithms. The solution provides drivers with real-time parking availability information relayed to 27 Cleverciti Circ LED guidance displays located at various decision points, as well as to a convenient mobile parking app. The mobile app provides drivers with turn-by-turn navigation to the space closest to their destination and allows users to find the perfect space for them, such as a loading zones or an accessible space. Payment is a breeze from the mobile app, with one-click access to all the city’s mobile payment providers.

Cleverciti’s innovative CleverPortal parking intelligence platform allows RheinEnergie to view live occupancy status per parking space and deeply analyze occupancy trends over time. They can also manage the operational status of each device, including a real-time view of the content of each of the Circ guidance displays. This valuable data can inform future decision-making such as pricing rules or when and where to build (or remove) parking infrastructure.

With digital turn-by-turn guidance signage, drivers can now avoid searching for available parking for extended periods of time, improving their overall experience and reducing vehicle emissions. On-site test drives have already shown that the solutions have reduced parking search time by 45%. At the same time, the distance driven could be reduced by 41%. 

Prior to the installation of the Cleverciti solution, the occupancy rate was at 88% between 10 am and 6 pm on weekdays. After deployment of Cleverciti’s guidance, parking utilization increased by nearly 8 percentage points to 96%. In summary, two thirds of parking spaces that previously remained unoccupied can now be found by drivers, significantly streamlining the parking experience for all. Additional benefits include increased revenues, reduced vehicle emissions, time savings for all drivers, and increased parking compliance. 

Cologne has now recognized the value of a comprehensive digital parking guidance system. Cologne’s climate neutral plan 2035 states, “In order to avoid parking search traffic, the promotion of the digital parking guidance system Smart Parking is to be extended to the entire city area by 2030” (translation from German). As the data has shown, the deployment of smart parking city-wide will significantly reduce congestion and carbon emissions – while creating a more accessible and livable city.

For more information, visit www.cleverciti.com.