For most European cities, summer brings a welcome respite from traffic. But as August draws to a close and offices and schools reopen, congestion quickly returns, bringing back the daily challenges of commuting.
Millions of people across Europe commute every day, travelling shorter or longer distances to get to work. According to data reported by Euronews, commuting adds on average at least half a working day to the standard office week. Around 27% of Europeans rely on trains and local public transport, while 59% travel by car.
In major cities, commuting between home and work or school accounts for more than 70% of urban congestion during the morning and evening rush hours. In Frankfurt am Main, Germany, for example, TomTom’s Traffic Index calculated that the average driver lost 107 hours in traffic last year – the equivalent of 4 days and 11 hours. During the evening rush hour, a 10-kilometre journey can take almost 35 minutes.
Against this backdrop, efficient parking can play an important role in making urban mobility more efficient. An interesting example comes from Langen, in the German Land of Hessen, where a Smart Parking project is helping the city better understand how parking facilities near the railway station are used.
Smart Parking for commuters in Langen
With a population of around 40,000, Langen is located between Darmstadt and Frankfurt and is a strategic transport hub for commuters travelling to Frankfurt by train, with a journey time of around 20 minutes and services running every 15 minutes.
The City of Langen is strongly committed to promoting sustainable mobility. As part of the strategy, parking facilities for commuters and travelers were renewed and expanded in 2025. Together with Langen Municipal Services, the City wanted to gain a clearer understanding of how the car park near the railway station are used – in particular, whether spaces are occupied by daily commuters or by vehicles remaining parked for longer periods.
An IoT-based Smart Parking solution was identified as the ideal way to monitor the car park remotely, collect reliable occupancy data, and understand how long vehicles typically remain parked.
Connecting Smart Parking sensors to the IoT network
The car park on the west side of Langen railway station is now equipped with 280 Smart Parking Sensors. Our devices were installed directly on the asphalt, while two gateways and some repeaters were mounted on existing lighting poles to ensure reliable wireless communication and data transmission across the car park.
Each Smart Parking Sensor detects whether its corresponding parking space is free or occupied and transmits this information via the wireless network to the Central Management System.
Importantly, the solution is designed with privacy in mind: no personal data are collected. License plate numbers, vehicle types, and other information that could identify individual vehicles are not recorded.
Turning parking data into actionable insights
Every morning, the City of Langen receives a report providing an up-to-date overview of car park usage. The report includes accurate information on the number of occupied spaces as well as the number of vehicles that remained parked beyond the expected daily period.
This data provides the City with valuable insights into actual parking behavior and is now being carefully analysed to support data-driven decisions and further improve parking services for commuters.
The findings could, for example, lead to measures aimed at discouraging long-term parking in commuter spaces, such as adjustments to parking tariffs or the introduction of fines. In the longer term, the data could also support investments in more advanced Smart Parking solutions, including intelligent parking management and parking guidance systems.
The Langen project demonstrates how Smart Parking Sensors can provide cities with a reliable, real-time view of parking occupancy and usage patterns without collecting personal data.
For commuters, better parking management means easier access to public transportation and a more predictable journey. For municipalities, accurate parking data creates a solid foundation for making informed decisions about infrastructure, pricing and mobility policies.
As people return to offices and schools reopen after the summer break, cities across Europe once again face increasing pressure on their road and parking infrastructure. Smart Parking can be part of the solution, helping municipalities move from simply managing parking spaces to understanding how they are used and planning urban mobility based on real-world data.