Pay by Plate

Pay-by-plate machines are a subset of ticket machines used for regulating parking in urban areas or in parking lots. They enable customers to purchase parking time by using their license plate number. The machines print a receipt that generally displays the location, machine number, start time, expiration time, amount paid, and license plate.

The pay by plate system services multiple vehicles by simply inputting the license plate information into a machine. This system results in lower set up costs, maintenance, and prevents drivers from taking advantage of parking meters that have time remaining. In many cities, pay by plate has replaced the road-side parking meter and the pay and display machines. The advantage to the city could be: increased revenue, increased compliance, less disputed tickets, increased parking space utilization and/or reduction in staff [see Results section].

The advantage to the driver is that the vehicle could be moved to another parking spot and still have a paid status compared to other systems. Previously with parking meters and pay by space, the payment did not follow the driver which resulted in a parking ticket if they decided to move spaces. In addition to this advantage, the driver could also purchase time by phone so that the driver does not have to go back to the machine to extend their parking session. The pay by plate machines accept coins, credit cards, debit cards and NFC for smart phone payments, making it unnecessary for drivers to carry large amounts of change. The use of debit cards, credit cards and NFC are also advantageous to the city as they do not have to empty the machines as often lowering the cost of maintenance. It can also help to limit pilfering by employees who empty the parking meters.

Enforcement of license plates is done in one of three ways: by manual plate entry into a handheld device, by Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) in a handheld device or by vehicle mounted ALPR. The enforcement officer enters the plate manually or automatically depending on the technology used, and the system looks up payment information to see if the vehicle is parked legally. Illegally parked vehicles are issued a citation in real-time on the windshield or through a post-processed mail out method. Payments are retrieved from multiple sources from phone payments to on street payment machines. This process allows the parking enforcement officer to quickly determine who has and has not paid resulting in larger revenues for the city through citations and/or compliance.

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Wikipedia