Licence plate and barrier
Barrier with licence plate recognition: the camera identifies who drives up and the barrier enforces your rules. Without a ticket, without a card.
What does a barrier with licence plate recognition achieve?
With the combination of licence plate recognition and a barrier, the camera decides and the barrier carries out the decision. The licence plate is read at the entrance, the system checks the authorisation and controls the barrier. Instead of a ticket, card or code, the licence plate is enough. Each method on its own has a gap: a barrier alone does not know who is standing in front of it; a camera alone does, but cannot stop anyone. Together they recognise every vehicle and enforce your rules at the entrance. When quota is free, the barrier stays open, yet every licence plate is still captured. If the quota is full or the entrance is for authorised users only, it opens only for authorised licence plates, then everyone stops briefly, and a screen at the entrance shows the reason. Instead of a barrier, a roller door can also be controlled, and existing systems are connected if their controller allows it. The stop lasts only as long as reading the licence plate takes.
This is how parking works with a barrier but without a ticket.
Barriers stay open, every licence plate is read.
Barrier, licence plate or both?
Each of the two methods can do something the other lacks. The table shows what is left when you combine them.
Can access really be restricted?
Does it work without a ticket and card?
Can a quota be enforced?
Do parkers have to stop at the entrance?
What technology runs in operation?
| Barrier only | Licence plate only | Licence plate and barrier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can access really be restricted? | Yes, the barrier stops everyone | No, everything is recorded, nobody is held up | Yes, the barrier stops you, the licence plate decides |
| Does it work without a ticket and card? | No, a ticket, card or code is required | Yes, nothing to take, nothing to show | Yes, nothing to take, nothing to show |
| Can a quota be enforced? | No, it blocks everyone or no one | No, the system knows who is allowed but cannot block | Yes, free up to capacity, after that authorised users only |
| Do parkers have to stop at the entrance? | Yes, take a ticket, look for a card, wait | No, free passage | Brief, until the licence plate is read |
| What technology runs in operation? | Mechanics that can fail | Cameras only, no moving parts | Cameras and one barrier |
When the combination fits.
It also works without a barrier.
If nobody has to be kept out, licence plate recognition alone is enough. The entrance then stays open and nobody has to stop.
Free flow parking
More on the technology.
Questions about licence plates and barriers.
In both cases, every licence plate is captured. With Free Flow, access stays open, no one stops, and anyone who doesn't pay is recorded as a violation. With a barrier, it also stays open with a free quota. If the quota is full or access is for authorised vehicles only, no one gets onto the site without authorisation, and everyone stops briefly.
Often yes. Existing barriers and gates are integrated and kept in use if their control system allows it and their condition is sound. We check that in advance at your installation. Where integration is not possible, a new barrier is added, and the rest of the area is unaffected.
Reading takes place at the front and rear. If a licence plate is ever unreadable at both ends, for example under snow or dirt, a ticket machine at the post can be used as a fallback if you wish: only then does the parker take a ticket. In everyday use, operation stays ticketless, and whether you want this additional safeguard is up to you.
No. A roller shutter door can be controlled in just the same way, and other barriers are also an option as long as they have a control system. What matters is not the design but that the entrance can be opened and closed after the camera has read the licence plate and the system has checked the entitlement.
As long as it takes to read the licence plate, that is only a brief moment at the entrance. There is no ticket, nobody has to search for a card, and there is no button to press either. If the barrier is open anyway because there is room within the quota, the stop is dropped altogether.
A screen at the entrance shows the reason, for example that the set occupancy has been reached. So that nobody has to reverse onto the road, the entrance needs space to turn round. Authorised vehicles still get in even when the site is closed to general traffic.