Parking and transportation services is testing license plate recognition technology

Miami University’s parking and transportation services began using license plate recognition this month on campus in an effort to better understand lot usage and make parking enforcement more efficient.

Miami’s parking enforcement vehicles now have two unusual attachments on their roofs.

The white boxes are license plate recognition cameras that connect with Miami’s parking management software. Each box contains a color camera for taking images of vehicles parked in their surroundings and an infrared camera for taking images of license plates that can be converted to text by a computer.

Information about whether or not the vehicle has a valid parking permit is then displayed on a tablet in the parking enforcement vehicle.

License plate recognition may also benefit drivers in the future by no longer requiring a physical parking permit to be displayed if the vehicle is already registered with parking and transportation services.

“We are looking forward to being able to provide better information about parking resources on campus through the use of this technology,” said Capt. Ben Spilman, director of parking and transportation services. “It will allow Miami to fully utilize the capabilities of the new parking management software system that was implemented over the summer.”

Permits up to date? 

With the development of license plate recognition on campus, this is a good time to make sure that all the license plates your current parking permit is used with are registered in the parking management system.

To add vehicles to your existing permit or update license plates,click here and log in with your Miami credentials. Contact parking customer service at (513) 529-2224 or parking@miamioh.edu for assistance with updating vehicle information.