The Smart City project Smart Parking pursues the goal of reducing traffic searching for parking spaces. This requires a comprehensive analysis of the mobility behavior of Wolfsburg residents. To enable the city administration to understand and analyze the traffic and mobility behavior of the population, a test field is being set up on Meckauerweg. The sensors installed there will provide the necessary data on the actual use and demand for parking space. In the long term, the implementation of the project will offer residents an improved traffic flow. There will be no more long searches for a parking space and travel times to the city will be reduced.

"The data is an important building block for the planned digital parking guidance system. The transparency of available parking spaces can help to reduce traffic searching for a parking space and the resulting consequences, such as higher emissions or additional traffic in the city center. Overall, the project contributes to our smart traffic in Wolfsburg," says Jens Hofschröer, Head of Digital and Economic Affairs. The test field will initially be used to test the new sensors. The findings from the collected data will help the city to better understand the population's changing mobility behavior and derive data-based urban planning decisions.

The Smart Parking project is part of the Smart Cities Model Projects funding program of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB). The aim of the funding programme is to strategically shape digitalization in terms of integrated sustainable urban development. The focus is on projects that create added value for citizens in particular through the use of digital technologies. The city of Wolfsburg has been in the implementation phase of the funding program since 2022.