License Plate Recognition

License Plate Recognition (LPR)

LPR Technology comes to IU Bloomington

IU Bloomington Parking Operations will continue testing License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology on campus beginning Spring 2021.

How LPR works

License Plate Recognition (LPR) is a virtual permit system that allows you to use your license plate as your parking permit. No more worrying about properly displaying your parking permit or transferring your permit between vehicles. With LPR, your license plate is your virtual permit! LPR works much like a supermarket scanner but it uses your vehicle’s plate in place of a barcode. The license plate is captured by cameras mounted on enforcement vehicles or inside parking garages. When read, the numbers of your plate are automatically referenced against the parking database to verify proper parking privileges for the parking location.

Why LPR technology?

The bottom line is that this technology is designed to improve our efficiency and your experience with us.

  • Simplify/Streamline the permit renewal process – no extra trips to pick up permit, no waiting in line and no waiting for your permit to arrive in the mail
  • No more:
    • Visiting our office if you forget your permit
    • Permits falling from rearview mirror or being improperly displayed
    • Replacement fees for lost permits
    • Remembering to switch your permit to another vehicle
    • Scanning or swiping a permit when entering or exiting a garage. With LPR, it is automatic!

About the LPR trial on this campus

During the evaluation period, Parking Operations will be using a truck equipped with cameras to evaluate the ability of LPR to recognize license plates.

The impact to your day-to-day parking experience will be minimal. You will continue to display your valid parking permit in your vehicle during the evaluation period and park in the same areas as allowed by that permit.

To ensure we collect enough results during the evaluation period we are asking all permit holders to do the following:

  1. Navigate to the IU Parking Portal to review and update your current vehicle information and license plate.
  2. Log in with your IU credentials.
  3. Click on Vehicles in the navigation at the top of the page.
  4. Delete old vehicles, edit vehicle information, or add vehicles you drive.
  5. If you have a personalized plate with a special character (heart, star, etc.) skip the special character and enter only the numbers or letters.
  6. Because Indiana only has license plates on the back of the vehicle, you can no longer pull through or back into any spaces when parking. Always park your vehicle so that your license plate faces the drive lane and the LPR cameras can read it.

Secondary permits such as the service vehicle (SV) and reserved (R) should be displayed as usual. Current parking rules for use of secondary permits will not change. Protocol for visitors displaying a visitor permit or parking in designated visitor locations will not change.