How can LPR make your city smarter?

It's no secret that life in cities is becoming more complicated due to several factors such as overpopulation, pollution and traffic. To remain habitable, cities have to become smarter.

City management is a science that involves technology from many different sources to find answers to challenges impossible to face in the past.

Since many of those challenges come from vehicles (traffic, pollution, security, etc.) License Plate Recognition (LPR or ANPR) has been increasingly used to build solutions that may lead us to safer, cleaner and nicer cities in the future, for example:

Parking control

Mobile LPR is the capability of performing License Plate Recognition from a moving vehicle using a compact LPR camera; this allows a single parking control agent to check up to 1000 vehicles a day, much more than the 300 that could be done by foot.
A high-speed and precise LPR camera is needed to achieve this level of effectiveness, such as our Picopak, the world's smallest LPR camera.

Traffic studies

Reading license plates on the go (using Free Flow LPR Cameras to collect data 24/7 in several key city points) allows Smart cities to gather accurate information to generate a deeper understanding of traffic flows, the basis for fighting air pollution and creating better city traffic policies.

Management of Low Emission, downtowns and special zones

LPR can help city management enforce other license plate-based restrictions in downtowns and other special areas, which also need to prioritize the type of vehicles allowed; LPR allows easier, automated license plate-based access control by controlling barriers real-time.

Access control to Recycling centers

Smart recycling centers allow private parties to drop their loads; LPR allows users to reserve appointments with information about their cargo for better control and service quality.

Monitoring of reserved lanes

One of the most popular traffic solutions is the reserved channels that restrict access to special vehicles such as taxis, buses or shared cars; LPR cameras installed at the entrance of these channels' entrances can monitor their license plates and inform authorities in real-time about regulations violations.

Detection of stolen or wanted vehicles

LPR cameras installed in key city points can monitor plates and send the data to security systems instantly, achieving real-time alerts that lead to a faster and effective response of security forces.

Traffic light, Stop and Pedestrian Radars

Due to speed and direction reading capabilities, LPR cameras can detect and report infractions in these types of street sites in real-time, making the work of traffic law enforcers much easier and effective.

Securitization of tunnels and bridges

Having LPR cameras at the entrance and exits of tunnels or bridges has become a huge advantage for their security. By recording every license plate and measuring the time spent inside the structure, systems can detect accidents or anomalies and every vehicle involved, even HAZMAT (Hazardous material vehicles).

Radar speed and wrong way signs

Cities also bet for prevention; drivers love to be warned before committing traffic violations; LPR cameras can show drivers the speed of their vehicles or warn them if they are going in the wrong direction, giving them a heads up on their traffic behavior.

Carpool parking management

Car sharing is becoming trending in many cities, but carpool parking may be a nightmare for management and parking owners; LPR allows more precise control and better service to online city platform users by providing exact information about the vehicles involved in the process.

Final Thoughts

Used for the community's benefit, technology can benefit everyone: government, companies, people and the environment. LPR has turned into a gold mine for discovering new, faster and cleaner solutions for smart cities.

4