Driving to the airport, sharing a ride or taking a cab? This dilemma has as many answers as there are films available on Netflix. Consequently, it is a hot online discussion topic, with more and more people abandoning their tv screens, and instead reaching for in-person travel experiences. Thankfully, today’s LPR is making the airport parking option more popular than ever.
LPR has been around in airports since 2005, mainly for security reasons such as fraud prevention. Now, developments in the field have been taking LPR to a whole new level, bringing new features and customer benefits to the mix.
So, how has LPR helped airport parking become more attractive and profitable?
New Role of LPR
In the past, LPR wasn’t part of the parking system, but a parallel, clumsy and outdated security protocol. Now, thanks to better and more precise cameras with reading rates closer to 99 percent, it is possible to embed LPR in the core. Thus, LPR becomes the key for opening the barrier in entries and exits, which subsequently, turns the parking deck into a frictionless facility with all the operational upgrades it conveys:
1. The lines at the gate disappear,
2. The waiting time is reduced dramatically
3. All the ticket-related hassles are gone for good
This is easier said than done, mostly because many states require only rear license plates. These back plates used to force parking lots to give up on LPR due to the high difficulty (extremely large and highly inconvenient minimum recognition distances required) to perform pre-capture LPR, but now it’s all past history. New enhanced AI-powered LPR cameras are able to maintain high reading rates at shorter distances.
Involving LPR at this level unlocks a whole world of possibilities that any parking entity, especially airports, could benefit from:
1. Easy as booking an Uber, drivers now can reserve and pay for a spot at the airport from their smartphones, entering and exiting without any interaction with parking equipment or personnel.
2. The reduction in car lines inside the airport parking has a benefit you may not link directly to LPR, but it’s huge! The reduction in air pollution, which is dramatically significant and turns the whole facility into a better place to be.
3. Monthly subscribers, such as airport employees, can also ingress or egress in a faster and simpler fashion, without even rolling down their windows to show badges or access cards.
4. Internally, the license plate inventory (LPI) operations have also become easier and simpler by using smaller all-in-one mobile cameras, attached to small vehicles and directly connected to the cloud for instant processing.
Faster, cleaner, connected, secure and convenient... LPR makes parking at the airport more attractive than ever.
Laura Caillot, General Manager, Survision, can be reached at laura.caillot@survisiongroup.com
