Gateless, Ticketless, or Something In Between with License Plate Recognition

by Jon Martens, AICP, CAPP

Walker Consultants

Moving to a gateless or ticketless off-street parking system can have different

meanings. Thirty years ago when I got into parking I had some locations that were

gateless and ticketless. They were called Honor Box lots. The big upgrade at the time

was a guarded slot that added razor blades to reduce fishing out the cash with a wire.

Like everything else, technology has raised the bar.

Now, ticketless can mean free entry with or without gates and License Plate Recognition

(LPR) cameras. The plate is recorded on entry and if payment is not made within a set

grace period, the vehicle is in violation for non-payment. The system knows if a

payment has been made by the user paying using their plate number via a kiosk, app,

or QR code that takes them to a payment portal. There are several companies that have

expanded on this concept by automating enforcement. Automated enforcement uses

vehicle information collected from video cameras to look up the vehicle owner (via the

license plate) and mail an invoice for non-payment, similar to speed cameras that mail

citations with photo evidence, although typically an invoice with parking and not a

citation.

Another method is gated, ticketless. This adds a gate to process. This can be useful to

protect monthly or reservation parkers as a facility nears capacity and spaces need to

be held back. It can also help to address vehicles that arrive with an unreadable plate,

such as a paper dealer plate or blocked plate. In these cases, the patron could be

asked to enter an alternate ID, such as a phone number or issue a ticket if equipped.

LPR continues to improve and evolve. Besides reading plate characters, more systems

are considering vehicle color and make into the vehicle identification equation. As these

systems evolve, what are your plans for incorporating LPR into your parking

operations?