The post I wrote a few days ago on License Plate Recognition has exploded on Linkedin. Jordan puts my blogs up on my Linkedin page and almost 5000 people have viewed it in the past week and a half. There are number of comments, most agreeing, some adding more information, some in total disagreement.
One comment that caught my eye was a reader who thought the whole idea of LPR was a waste. Seems he feels that it can be replaced with Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) and it never fails. A failure rate of 2 or 3 percent would cause huge traffic problems, he stated, and therefore a back up credential was needed anyway. So why go to the expense of LPR in the first place.
I might comment that there are other uses for LPR than just monthly access. I am always impressed when I visit a location where I pull a ticket, pay at a central POF, and then drive to the gate. I always have my ticket ready to stick in some machine at exit, but to my amazement, the gate opens as I drive toward it. I later look at my ticket and find my license plate printed on it.
This is a great convenience for the daily parker and speeds up the exit, an important feature in this case, which is a monthly/transient lot with about 200 cars and one entry and exit lane.
I’m sure there are more uses for LPR than just as a monthly credential, I just haven’t run across them.
JVH
One Response
JVH,
Sorry for the late reply on this one but I enjoyed the conversation back and forth on LPR and AVI. We do both and I would say the key difference is that AVI is an “opt-in” where LPR is a “forced-in”. Both can be great experiences and “frictionless” or “touchless”. The biggest difference I see – and to keep it very simple – for AVI you need some kind of transponder (EZPass, SmartPass, HID tag, etc.) that will be tied to an individual and you will need to rent, buy, or otherwise possess, so to me this is “opting in”. For LPR, you need a license plate and all of the areas that we are worried about require some kind of license plate, so this is being “forced in”. There are ways to collect the MAC address off of your car or your phone, but let’s save that for later.
Thanks for starting so many great conversations.
Andy