The Convex consortium led by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has signed an agreement with app developer AppyWay to create the first commercially available parking and loading bay booking and reservation system in the UK.

The consortium includes Jaguar Land Rover, Bosch, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Valerann, Synaptiv and Immense, and was set up to share data and use it to develop innovative new mobility products and services.

Convex will work with AppyWay to produce a commercial app which will find and reserve kerbside parking or loading bays. Convex can pool data around kerbside restrictions.

Convex is the Mobility Data Exchange introduced to accelerate the development of new mobility products and services in the UK and help build the transport systems of the future.

This includes connected and self-driving vehicles, fleet operations, micro-mobility such as eScooters, intelligent infrastructure and new freight and passenger services.

Head of transport innovation for TfWM and lead for ConVEx Chris Lane, said:  “Modern life puts huge pressure on our kerbsides, from increased home deliveries, peak time congestion in our urban centres caused by the need for parking and the supply of goods, to the growing demand for ride-hailing and micromobility services.

“The key ingredient to solving this problem is data, captured through AppyWay and their approach to the digitisation of the roadside, made available to all through Convex.”

Ben Boutcher-West, head of mobility at AppyWay commented: "We are thrilled to continue our work with TfWM and partner with Convex in particular, as sector leading data exchanges like this need to be encouraged internationally.

“Current kerbside management in our cities depends on hardware and an enforcement-led approach. Through Convex we can expand our sensing capability and develop the business model in a real world application that supports the further digitisation of our streets."

Earlier this year AppyWay, working with WM5G, held trials of a system through which a connected and autonomous car could identify available roadside parking spaces in Sparkbrook.