In major European cities such as London and Frankfurt, one can spend as many as 67 hours per year looking for empty parking spaces, at a cost of more than €1,250 ($1,412).

However, in some cases, the main issue isn’t a lack of parking spaces, but rather low occupancy rates. With that in mind, Ford and Vodafone are testing a new connected vehicle technology dubbed Parking Space Guidance, which should be of massive help to drivers everywhere.

“Satnavs are great at helping us to get to our destination but aren’t so useful when it comes to helping us to park there – especially in city centers,” said Ford of Europe engineer, Tobias Wallerius. “Parking Space Guidance is a connected‑vehicle technology that could help drivers to more quickly complete their journey, saving them money, time and benefiting overall air quality.”

Parking Space Guidance would receive real-time updates based on car park data and is being trialed right now as part of the KoMoD (Kooperative Mobilität im digitalen Testfeld Düsseldorf) program in Germany. As test vehicles drive through the city, they receive road status and car park information from a central computer system (based on their geo-location).

“When vehicles can exchange data with infrastructure in real-time, traffic will become more intelligent, searching for a parking space will become less stressful and people will get to their destination more quickly,” added Michael Reinartz, head of innovation at Vodafone.

Other features being trialed by Ford and Vodafone as part of KoMoD include a Traffic Light Assistance System, Tunnel Information System, Vario Display (warns of events that may impact local traffic), Traffic Control Systems, Smart Traffic Sign Transmission and Bad Weather Warning.

All of these technologies operate using real-time updates and should theoretically be of great help to drivers during their daily commutes.