Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the variety of methods available when it comes to paying for parking.
What was once limited to the simple cash or coins route now feature a range of payment options including: credit or debit card; cash apps; tap and go; and cellphone number payments.
However, ANPR is now set to take the industry by storm — this new option emerged very recently thanks to technological advances.
ANPR stands for Automatic Number Plate Recognition and is being adopted rapidly by car parks throughout the UK as it is a faster and more reliable means of monitoring parking and collecting payments.
ANPR was not, however, designed specifically for parking payment purposes — it is a technology that has been around for a while, and is now simply being adapted.
It is widely used around the world by law enforcement departments. The officials make use of the software to detect license plates and draw information from them, for instance to see if they are registered or not.
This technology is also used to fine speeding drivers without having to pull them over.
In the busier cities around the world, ANPR is used to monitor streets and the driving habits of drivers. Critics have debated this technology as a form of mass surveillance in which governments have the ability to track peoples movements.
To put it simply, ANPR makes use of your number plate in order to determine how much parking money you owe.
Through a series of photographs and recognition technology, the system is able to calculate the tariffs of each individual vehicle entering and leaving a space.
This is the latest development in the attempt to provide solutions to the many issues relating to the more outdated methods of parking monitoring.
Consumers, particularly in big cities, demand that services be simpler, faster and more accurate. Paying for parking should be no different. This is why market leaders such as Advance Access (
advanceaccess.co.uk) ‘state of the art’ solutions.
There isn’t much sense to repeatedly print paper tickets, having people queue to cash them out and then still interact with a third machine in order to exit the premises.
The whole process has endless potential to become much, much simpler. ANPR is one of the systems installed to make that happen, and its doing a great job so far.
The way ANPR works is actually quite simple. It essentially watches you go in the one end, and out the other, while calculating the time between the two moments.
To start with, CCTV cameras are placed at the entrance and exit points of the car park in question.
Although ANPR only uses number plate footage for calculations, photographs of the entire vehicle as well as the number plate are taken on entry.
When the same car leaves the premises, another photograph of the number plate is taken.
The two sets of photographs relay a time interval back to the system that is allocated to the specific car.
At the exit point there will be something called a pay and display machine.
These machines feed the calculated time and cost back to the driver so that he or she can proceed with payment.
If a car park is duration specific (maximum allowance time stated on signage) then the system can cater for this as well. Should this time be exceeded the system will be notified of this upon exit.
There will then be an additional fee added to the original total as an infringement fine.
It is important to note that parking lots must display this infringement fee on signage around the premises so that it’s clear to drivers and legal to claim the penalty fee.
Though relatively new to the parking scene, ANPR already boasts notable benefits that will continue to affect the way we see parking in future.
Here are a few reasons why we support this effective movement in parking payment.
With ANPR there are no tickets printed or issued at any point. In fact, there’s no exchange of anything physical at all.
This makes the system immediately more economical and environmentally friendly than most other options.
Eliminating the need for tangible parking evidence saves money and resources.
Since it’s largely impossible to lose one’s number plate, there’s no risk of not being able to prove your parking duration. The evidence lies in the plates themselves.
You’ll be able to enjoy your shopping day without the worry of keeping track of a ticket. And dare we say far too many of us are familiar with the dreaded experience of realizing you’ve misplaced your parking ticket.
Probably the most notable benefit is the unmatched efficiency when compared to some other systems still in use today.
By eliminating the need to interact with machines before and after you leave, it’s saving individuals valuable time. Gone are the days waiting for tickets to print, queuing to pay and queuing again to feed the ticket to the exit boom.
Security is a big benefit to the ANPR system as well.
The software has the ability to keep 24/7 coverage of the vehicles in the vicinity. It knows exactly when and where a vehicle arrives &and exits.
The system is not time sensitive so it can be used at any time of day. It’s equally as effective at night as it is during day light hours.
ANPR is a system that will become more commonplace in the future but which has aready become the preferred method of parking payments in many areas of the UK — it is a technology that has made a lasting impact in the industry.