Solution · Mobility hubs

Mobility hubs managed digitally: park, charge, hire and share in one place

Park – charge – hire – share: a mobility hub connects a range of mobility and service offerings. People can switch between modes of transport, share them, hire them and refuel or recharge. That requires, among other things, parking spaces reliably kept free for drivers and cycle lockers for Bike & Ride. As a universal access management platform, book-n-use gives you an efficient way to control your future-proof mobility hub as a whole.

Your benefits

Your benefits with a centrally managed mobility hub

Convenience saves CO₂ and eases pressure on city centres

Leave the car at the mobility hub and get into town by bike or train faster than you could find a parking space: with reservation management and smart user control, book-n-use makes switching easy – convenience that benefits the environment.

Smart sharing creates capacity

Whether it is a cycle store, an EV charger or an entire multi-storey car park – sharing creates capacity. With book-n-use, for example, company car parks can be opened to city visitors at weekends and refinanced through a payment model.

Directing traffic flows efficiently

Easy switching between modes of transport makes it easier to direct traffic: a mobility hub on the edge of town means fewer cars in the city centre – and book-n-use helps you manage the flows with simple administration.

Controlling mobility infrastructure consistently

Car park gates, barriers, smart parking barriers, cycle lockers, locker systems and much more can be controlled with book-n-use as a universal access management platform – which makes managing your mobility hub much easier.

Case studies

TU Darmstadt’s Lichtwiese sharing hub

Entrance to the TU Darmstadt Lichtwiese car park with barrier
Lichtwiese sharing hub: flexible car park use with barriers and roller doors
Challenge: In addition to the parking spaces and cycle lockers already managed by book-n-use, the barrier systems, roller doors and access doors in the TU car parks were to be integrated into the system. The Lichtwiese car park was also to be made future-proof and flexible to use with digital sharing.
Solution: The barrier systems were extended with book-n-use technology without losing any functionality, as were the roller doors. Doors were fitted with electromechanical locks so that they can be controlled. Authorised drivers can now operate all devices centrally from their smartphone with a single booking. The car park is now used flexibly: exclusively for university members during the week, and open to the public at weekends – for visitors to the nearby zoo, for example.
Three smart parking barriers at TU Darmstadt's Lichtwiese sharing hub
Lichtwiese sharing hub: smart parking barriers with reservation management
Challenge: Individual spaces for lecturers, university staff and visitors needed to be kept free according to appointments and demand. Booking and reservation management was to be integrated digitally.
Solution: The individual spaces are now kept reliably free by our smart parking barriers 4.0. book-n-use was implemented as the parking management and access control platform; visitors and staff can book and unlock “their” space by smartphone. Spaces are allocated according to demand, so parking for important visitors and appointments, for example, can be reserved very easily.
Two “DELTA-Liner” electric cargo bikes from the sharing scheme
Lichtwiese sharing hub: electric cargo bike sharing (“Delta-Liner”)
Challenge: DELTA (Darmstadt Energy Lab for Technologies in Application) is putting cutting-edge sharing concepts into practice at the Lichtwiese mobility hub. As part of this research, electric cargo bikes were developed whose sharing and access management were to be integrated digitally into the administration and operated by users themselves.
Solution: The “Delta-Liners” are managed through book-n-use and are part of the overall concept of the Lichtwiese sharing hub. Users book and reserve conveniently with the book-n-use web app and then unlock the digitally controlled cycle lockers with charging station using their own smartphone.
DELTA project

Associate project partner for delivering mobility hubs

DELTA is a project of the “Living Labs of the Energy Transition” initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The Darmstadt Energy Lab for Technologies in Application (DELTA) acts as a showcase for the urban energy transition, demonstrating interacting, energy-optimised neighbourhoods. In the sub-project “Saving resources through urban sharing models”, the former Green Mobility Solutions (succeeded by book-n-use gmbh) develops and researches energy-efficient, long-range IoT communication protocols for the long-term control of actuators in urban environments. The Darmstadt Energy Lab is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action with 100 million euros.

More about DELTA
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FAQs

Frequently asked questions about mobility hubs with book-n-use

book-n-use protects parking spaces from unauthorised use, above all from people parking without permission. Use by authorised drivers can be limited to set times. Booking, optional payment, management and release are all handled conveniently by smartphone or PC.

Yes. The book-n-use portal lets you combine ALL book-n-use devices. For example, your users can choose whether to book an individual parking space or drive into an area controlled by a barrier.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution is developed continuously. New features are available automatically the next time you open it in your web browser, so no software or app updates are needed. book-n-use gmbh monitors the devices (e.g. barriers, cycle lockers, smart parking barriers) and informs the operator if one fails.

Free of charge

Fixed price levels

  • Base price: one-off price per reservation (optional)
  • Price per unit of time (e.g. €1 per hour)
  • Maximum price: maximum price per reservation

Prices per flexible unit of time – example:

  • Parking for 0–1 hour: €1
  • Parking for 2–5 hours: €3
  • Parking for 5–10 hours: €10

book-n-use is implemented as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, so it can be used on any internet-enabled device. Administration can be done on a desktop PC, the facility manager on site can control devices with a tablet, and travellers book spaces by smartphone – all without installing software or apps. Full functionality is available as soon as your account is activated. There is also no need to buy, run or maintain your own servers.

The following licences are available: SmartRemote, SmartRemote+, SmartCampus, WhiteLabel.

A licence gives you access to the book-n-use portal as a Reservation Manager, where you run your mobility management. Depending on the licence, you can:

  • control your parking access devices (smart parking barriers, barriers, bollards, barrier chains, …) centrally,
  • create reservation links for your customers (eTicket),
  • allow reservations for closed user groups (booking only after entering a password),
  • allow reservations for all book-n-use users,
  • restrict reservations by time (e.g. by day of the week or time of day),
  • attach prices to reservations,
  • manage additional Reservation Managers,
  • structure your parking areas according to location and organisational requirements.

Included in every licence:

  • Support by email or phone
  • Application hosting in German data centres
  • GDPR-compliant processes
  • Simple, regular updates
  • Monitoring of the required communication infrastructure
  • Proactive notification by our support team when battery levels are low or other problems occur
More FAQs about book-n-use