UBC introduces license plate recognition technology to parking lots

Parking is an aspect of life for which tiny improvements in efficiency can create huge differences for both the end user (the person driving around endlessly hunting for parking) and the parking lot manager.

The University of British Columbia has partnered up with Digital Payment Technologies to implement License-Plate Enabled Parking which will see the installment of 44 of the company’s Luke II parking pay stations. The system integrates with license plate recognition technology provided by Genetech and T2 Systems, and is projected to result in a 10% increase in parking inventory.

For the driver/parker, the new system allows them to pay by coin, card or phone. The most crucial feature from a user perspective will be the ability to add time to a parking session when near any parking station on campus without having to physically run back to your actual spot while the clock mercilessly ticks down. The technology also promises to alert the mobile phone user in advance of time expiring.

From a parking enforcement perspective, the technology creates efficiencies by eliminating costs associate with marking and numbering spaces.

In describing the partnership, DPT regional sales manager John Cowley said UBC is now on the cutting edge.

“The parking deployment at UBC is a great example of how the right mix of technology can make parking operations more efficient. Between the technological opportunities with PBL and the seamless integration with Genetec and T2 Systems, UBC has adopted a holistic parking system that will serve the university well for years to come.”

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