Parking Services to Begin Using License Plate Recognition Technology

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Beginning June 1, Parking Services will use license plate recognition technology (LPR) to patrol the larger parking lots on campus.

The system hardware includes two cameras mounted on the trunk of a Parking Services sedan. As the car is driven through the lot, the system reads license plates on both sides and checks the university parking database to see whether the vehicles are permitted to park in that lot.

The efficient system will be able to read 6,000-7,000 license plates a day, according to Jonathan King, manager of Parking Services.

 “Eventually, our goal is to do away with the stickers and the hang tags. Your license plate becomes the tag,” he said.

That means people who may sometimes use a spouse’s car, for example, will need to register both vehicles. Permit holders can do that online through the Parking Services customer portal, the same location where they renew their permit.

LPR will not cover every campus parking space. “The system works best in large lots,” King said. “Small lots in the core campus will still be checked on foot.”

The LPR information will be tied to the same database as parking pay stations and the Parkmobile system.