Concerted parking space management as a building block for sustainable campus mobility at TU Dresden (KONZERT)

The research project is based on numerous preliminary works, strategies and concepts of the institutions involved in the project, which have been developed in recent years around the topic of mobility at TU Dresden:

• Leitziele für Mobilität in Dresden 2035+ of the City of Dresden
  (https://ratsinfo.dresden.de/to0050.asp?__ktonr=175940)
• TU Dresden Sustainable Strategy 2023–2030
  https://tu-dresden.de/tu-dresden/nachhaltigkeit/strategie-und-vision?set_language=en
• Mobilitätskonzept für den Hauptcampus der TU Dresden (Teil 1+2) (part 1+2)
  https://tu-dresden.de/tu-dresden/nachhaltigkeit/mitmachen/nachhaltigkeit-im-arbeitsalltag/mobilitaetsportal/mobilitaetskonzept?set_language=en
• Masterplan Campusgestaltung
  https://tu-dresden.de/bu/architektur/ila/forschung/masterplan-campusgestaltung

The core of the KONZERT project is to answer three central scientific research questions:

• To what extent can innovative work and process organization make operational mobility management successful at a large university with a complex administrative and responsibility structure? What strategies can be used to overcome existing obstacles to cross-actor cooperation?
• How are innovative mobility management strategies perceived by those involved and affected and which approaches lead to the acceptance of a cross-modal "push & pull" concept for influencing mobility?
• Does the implementation process of core elements of the mobility concept lead to noticeable changes in the perception of transport alternatives and to behavioral changes among university members?

The results of the research project should not only contribute to the scientific discourse on corporate mobility management, but also provide concrete recommendations for action for universities and comparable institutions. Particular attention will be paid to the practical relevance and transferability of the findings to other educational institutions and organizations.

The information event on campus mobility entitled "The future of parking on campus - a balancing act between sustainability and necessity" kicked off on May 17, 2024.

Employees and students as well as representatives of TUD stakeholder groups were invited to attend. The event took place on May 17, 2024 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Dülfersaal (Mommsenstr. 13, 01069 Dresden). It was attended by 115 registered participants.

Objectives and concerns
The core objective of the event was to provide initial information for university members and to communicate participation opportunities and planned participation formats. In terms of content, the focus was on the integration of the project into the mobility concept and mobility management at the TUD, the presentation of the KONZERT research project and the discussion of possible future measures aimed at responsible parking management. Participants also had the opportunity to put their questions and concerns to those involved in and responsible for the project and then take part in an interactive live survey.

Course of the event

• Welcoming words by the Chancellor of TU Dresden
  Chancellor Mr. Jan Gerken
• Keynote speech: Mobility management and mobility concept at TU Dresden
  PD Dr. Rico Wittwer, Chair of Mobility System Planning
• Keynote speech: Responsible parking space management
  Florian Schönherr, Chair of Mobility System Planning
• Open discussion with project managers
  State Capital Dresden, State Enterprise Saxon Real Estate and Construction Management, TUD Directorate Facility Management, TUD Chair of Mobility System Planning
• Interactive live survey
• Closing words

Documentation and results

Presentation slides:
Slides of the overall presentation

Interactive live survey with Mentimeter:
Results of the Mentimeter survey

During the summer months (June-August 2024), the so-called "Open Mobility Workshop" took place several times with selected stakeholders.

Objectives and concerns

The open mobility workshop is a format in which selected stakeholder groups were invited to a joint exchange with the project team. The stakeholders were always invited on a topic-related basis. The aim of the format was to systematically record the target group-related needs and requirements so that these can be taken into account in the course of the project.

Course of the events

The open mobility workshops followed a standardized procedure. At the beginning, the participants received a keynote speech on the research project in general as well as a current overview of the project focus "Responsible parking management". In a subsequent part, the participants worked in small groups using placemats. Each placemat consisted of several key questions for which the participants could note down comments and ideas on index cards. In a final discussion round, the small groups presented their results in plenary.

Events held:

• Open mobility workshop on 12.06.2024 with external institutions (Studentenwerk Dresden, DLR, IFW and SLUB)
• Open mobility workshop on 26.06.2024 with student representatives (StuRA - Mobility Department and tuuwi initiative)
• Open mobility workshop on 14.08.2024 with Personnel Representation Councils (Personnel Representation Council, Diversity Management, Representative of Employees with Disabilities and Persons with Disabilities or Chronic Illness and IT Security Officers)

On September 25, 2024, the City of Dresden (Office for Urban Planning and Mobility) organized a public participation event specifically for the development of a parking space concept for the public road space around the TU Dresden campus. The event, which took place in the large lecture hall (POT 81) of the Friedrich List Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (Hettnerstraße 1/3, 01069 Dresden), was attended by around 100 people and was primarily aimed at residents living in the vicinity of the campus.

You can find more information about the event at: https://www.dresden.de/de/rathaus/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2024/09/pm_059.php

An important milestone of the KONZERT project was the round table "Parking Space Management" on November 27, 2024.

Selected representatives of TUD stakeholder groups and people already involved in the project were invited to the Drawing Room (POT 168) of the Friedrich List Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (Hettnerstraße 1/3, 01069 Dresden). The event was attended by a total of 36 people. Among the participants were representatives of the various Directorates of the TUD as well as various staff and student representatives.

Goals and concerns

The aim of the "Parking Space Management" round table was to bring together key stakeholder groups at TUD to discuss a potential management approach for parking spaces at TU Dresden in a direct exchange. The event also served to bring together the concerns and information from the previous participation formats, in particular the open mobility workshops.

Course of the event

• Welcoming words by the project team
  Kathrin Brömmer, TUD Directorate Facility Management
• Round of introductions Participants
  Wolfgang Pfefferkorn (external moderator)
• Context and steps taken so far
  Florian Schönherr, Chair of Mobility System Planning

• Recommendations on the management approach
  Florian Schönherr, Chair of Mobility System Planning

• Participation formats
  Round 1: Plenary feedback on agreement, concerns and open issues
  Round 2: In-depth exchange and discussion in three thematic groups
• Synthesis of the topic-related discussions in plenary and opportunity for further comments to the project team
• Closing remarks: Next steps, next steps, farewell
  Florian Schönherr, Chair of Mobility System Planning

The final event for the KONZERT funding project took place in the last month of the project on September 12, 2025.

All representatives of TUD stakeholder groups who had already been actively involved in the funding project to date were invited. The event was held on Friday, September 12, 2025 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Friedrich List Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences in the Gerhart-Potthoff-Bau (Room POT 13, Hettnerstraße 1/3, 01069 Dresden). It was attended by 48 participants, including members of the University Executive Board and the Dean of the Friedrich List Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences. The event was moderated externally.

© TUD | Stephan Schöps

Objectives and concerns

The aim of the event was to provide participants with a comprehensive overview of the project results of the approximately 1.5-year process of implementing responsible parking management on the main campus of the TUD.

In terms of content, a review of the past process was given, core results on internal parking management and parking management on public streets were presented and the further procedure after the end of the funding project was outlined. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions about all the content presented, discuss aspects and formulate their suggestions for follow-up activities after the end of the project.

Course of the event

• Welcoming words by the Chancellor of TU Dresden
  Chancellor Jan Gerken
• Review of the KONZERT funding project process to date
  PD Dr. Rico Wittwer, Chair of Mobility System Planning
• Project results on internal parking management at the TUD
  Florian Schönherr, Chair of Mobility System Planning
  Katja Heyn, Staatsbetrieb Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement, Niederlassung Dresden II
• Questions from the floor to the project managers
  KONZERT project team
• Project results on parking space management on public streets
  Heiko Ziesch, Landeshauptstadt Dresden, Amt für Stadtplanung und Mobilität
• Further procedure for parking space management TUD
  Kathrin Brömmer, Dezernat Gebäudemanagement, Sachgebiet Infrastrukturelles Gebäudemanagement
• Discussion, concerns and input from participants
  KONZERT project team
• Conclusion, outlook and thanks
  PD Dr. Rico Wittwer, Chair of Mobility System Planning

Presentation slides

Presentation slides (German language)

Currently, only employees can apply for a parking permit for the university grounds on the Südvorstadt campus. Students, guests and visitors to the TUD can currently only park on public streets.

According to building regulation law, however, the university is obliged to provide the parking space it requires on its own premises. This means that students and visitors to the TUD must also be able to find a parking space on the university campus.

The focus is on the TU DresdenSüdvorstadt campus. Here there are parking spaces in the public street area as well as parking spaces on the university campus. The TUD is responsible for organizing parking on the university campus.

Measures to organize parking in one of the two areas of responsibility have a direct impact on the other area. The institutions involved have therefore been coordinating their plans for several years. The common goal is to avoid undesirable displacement effects and additional burdens for those affected and to implement a functioning overall system.

Parking permits are issued by the Transport and Traffic group in the Directorate Facility Management. Employees apply for a parking permit here and are issued with a transponder to open the barriers if available.

It is currently not possible to issue parking permits as the quota has been exhausted. Permits are not returned in an orderly manner. Identifying and retrieving transponders that are no longer in use is currently only possible by blocking the authorizations and involves a high administrative effort.

Yes, there is a need for action. In order to ensure sufficient parking facilities for those who rely on cars in the future, the university must manage the available parking space responsibly, efficiently and fairly. Currently, no new parking permits can be issued for the university campus. The allocation process needs to be reorganized. A personalized allocation and a time limit linked to affiliation with TU Dresden must be integrated.

Various options for a sensible and fair reorganization of parking space at the TUD's Südvorstadt campus have been discussed and debated together with the relevant stakeholders and affected parties as part of the KONZERT project. These include an orderly reallocation of parking permits, the introduction of social and fair allocation criteria for new applications, the implementation of a digital platform for application management and the evaluation of the framework conditions for the paid management of parking spaces on TU areas.

No, the aim is not to reduce the existing parking spaces on the university campus in Südvorstadt. However, parking should be better organized and only take place in designated areas. The available parking spaces must therefore be clearly recognizable in order to prevent incorrect parking on the university campus.

Yes, the University Executive Board has passed a resolution to reorganize the process for issuing parking permits. The application and allocation process will be digitized in order to enable a personal and time-limited issue of permits in the future. The allocation will then be prioritized according to criteria. This will ensure that those who are dependent on the use of a car receive a permit.

There are currently no plans to introduce paid parking management. There is currently no decision on this.

Currently, so many permits have been issued that new applications have to be rejected. With the start of the new digital allocation process, the number of permits issued will lead to a reasonable utilization of the existing parking spaces. More permits will be issued than there are parking spaces available, as not all permits will be used on campus at the same time. 

There will be an orderly transition phase for the changeover from the existing system to the new application and allocation procedure. The current parking permits will then lose their validity and be blocked.

Yes, because no decisions have yet been made by the University Executive Board to charge fees.

The introduction of paid parking permits may be necessary for responsible parking space management. It is appropriate on the basis of the following arguments:

• Counter-financing the modernization, maintenance, servicing and operation of the infrastructure
• Limited availability of space and high competition between usage requirements on the main campus
• Control means and incentive for compatible mobility behavior of university members
• Cost fairness in the use of different mobility options

The revenue generated should then be earmarked for the management of the system. Measures to improve the mobility offer should benefit everyone at the TUD.

Parking along the streets is the responsibility of the City of Dresden, which decides on and implements measures in the public street space. In some areas, the city has already been charging parking fees for more than 20 years (Mommsenstrasse, Helmholtzstrasse) and has designated residents' parking areas (Zeunerstrasse, G.-Bähr-Str.).

For the area surrounding the Südvorstadt campus, the city of Dresden is planning to introduce further residents' parking zones in order to protect local residents. Parking on these streets will therefore be subject to a charge. However, as these measures have a direct impact on the university, TU Dresden is coordinating closely with the City of Dresden. In the first stage of implementation (expected QII/2026), the parking spaces on the public roads in the Südvorstadt campus will initially remain unmanaged and therefore free of charge.

The content of the city's plans must be clearly separated from those of the TUD. Questions in this regard should be addressed to the Office for Urban Planning and Mobility, Department of Transport Development Planning(). The participation formats and public events can be used accordingly.

The city administration is currently planning the expansion of residents' parking areas in the vicinity of TU Dresden due to regular complaints from residents and on the basis of its own environmental goals. The city council has already approved the establishment of new resident parking areas. The plans will be implemented in stages. The timetable for this depends on the availability of financial and human resources. Measures for the public street spaces on the Südvorstadt campus have an impact on TU Dresden. TU Dresden is therefore also involved in the planning of the state capital Dresden.

The KONZERT project is a joint project of the state capital of Dresden (public street spaces), the state-owned company Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement (areas of the Free State of Saxony) and TU Dresden (user of the Free State areas). At TU Dresden, the Directorate Facility Management (D4) and the Friedrich List Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences are working together on the project. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport from 01.01.2024 to 30.09.2025. The aim of the project is to analyze the parking situation on the main campus and to develop structures beyond the project in order to manage parking space supply and demand responsibly in the future. The project pursues the implementation of the Mobility Vision 2028+ and mobility goals of the university, which were adopted by the Extended University Executive Board in March 2022.

• Amt für Stadtplanung und Mobilität der Landeshauptstadt Dresden
  https://www.dresden.de/de/rathaus/aemter-und-einrichtungen/oe/dborg/stadt_dresden_6642.php
• Staatsbetrieb Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement (SIB, Niederlassung Dresden II)
  https://www.sib.sachsen.de/niederlassung-dresden-ii-3998.html
• TU Dresden, Chair of Mobility System Planning (MSP)
  https://tu-dresden.de/bu/verkehr/ivs/msp
• TU Dresden Dezernat 4 – Gebäudemanagement
  https://tu-dresden.de/tu-dresden/organisation/zentrale-universitaetsverwaltung/dezernat-4-gebaeudemanagement