We’re starting 2026 with a project that didn’t begin with a campaign, but with a deadline.

In December 2025, ParkingAround went live in Mannheim as part of a defined pilot running until May 2026. Not an open-ended rollout. Not a vague experiment. A concrete test with a timeframe, evaluation, and a decision point at the end.

That framing matters.

What this project actually is?

The City of Mannheim is participating in RAPTOR, a European innovation program for mobility solutions supported by EIT Urban Mobility (an EU initiative). Within this framework, the city’s stated goal is clear:
reduce parking pressure in public space by making better use of existing private parking.

ParkingAround is the instrument being tested to do exactly that.

The platform connects:

  • People who have unused private parking (driveways, garages, courtyards)
  • With people who are actively searching for parking
  • For short- or long-term use, bookable digitally via app

This applies to private individuals, companies, and institutions alike. It’s not positioned as a convenience feature. It’s positioned as infrastructure logic: using what already exists instead of building more.

Why this is more than “just an app”?

One of the more concrete aspects of the pilot is the integration of IoT smart sensors for larger parking providers. Property owners with larger parking areas can equip spaces with wireless sensors to measure occupancy more precisely.

That introduces something many parking discussions lack:
actual usage data.

Not assumptions. Not estimates. But real insight into how space is used, when it’s empty, and where capacity is being wasted. For cities, that kind of data is often more valuable than another dashboard.

Embedded in long-term city planning

This also isn’t a side project running next to everything else. The idea of a parking marketplace is explicitly referenced in Mannheim’s Mobility Masterplan 2035+. The pilot is effectively testing whether that strategic intention can work in practice.

That’s an important distinction:
It’s validation work for future urban policy.

A pilot with consequences

Between December 2025 and May 2026, the project will be evaluated. The outcome will inform whether the marketplace becomes a permanent part of Mannheim’s mobility ecosystem.

That makes the current phase more honest than most launches:

  • Success is not assumed.
  • Adoption is not guaranteed.
  • Impact still has to be proven.

And that’s exactly why it’s worth paying attention to.

Why we’re comfortable starting the year with this

Because it’s concrete.
Because it’s already running.
Because it has structure, partners, a timeline, and clear goals.

If shared parking can measurably reduce search traffic and public space pressure in Mannheim, it becomes a model other cities can realistically adopt — without major construction, without massive budgets, without decade-long timelines.

The coming months will show whether that assumption holds.

That’s the work for 2026.

Sources: