License Plate Recognition

What is LPR?

Automated License Plate Recognition 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 plate is your "permit"!

How does LPR benefit me?

LPR simplifies the parking permit process and provides the following benefits:

No extra trips to pick up your permit, no concerns with lost/stolen mail, no waiting in line, and no extended processing time.
No permit to lose, forget, or move from vehicle to vehicle.
No $25 replacement fee if a permit is lost.
Account updates are user driven and less susceptible to data entry error.

Adding a Vehicle to a Permit

How does it work?

LPR is a system of cameras and accompanying software, which will be placed in Transportation Services vehicles to scan license plates. When a scanned license plate number is not associated with a valid "permit" or is not being used correctly, enforcement is prompted to investigate further and potentially issue a citation.

What information will be collected and how will it be used?

LPR scans of vehicles will record the following:

License plate image captured
License plate number
License plate state
Date
Time
Location

Information gathered or collected and records retained will not be:

Sold, published, exchanged, or disclosed for commercial purposes.
Disclosed or published without authorization.
Disseminated to persons not authorized to access or use the information.

License plates in the LPR system will be stored for no longer than 60 days, unless it is involved in a citation, open appeal case, or law enforcement ongoing investigation or to be used as evidence by a law enforcement agency. Data stored for longer will be anonymized, aggregated and used for various analytics.

Multiple/Temporary Vehicles

Multiple Vehicles - Permit holders are allowed to register up to five vehicles under the same parking "permit". The LPR technology will recognize the first vehicle as having a valid "permit", but any additional vehicles found on campus the same day, under the same virtual "permit", will be subject to citation.
Temporary Plates - If your vehicle has a temporary paper license plate, register the vehicle online by entering the temporary number as the Vehicle License Plate, selecting TEMPORARY PLATE as the Vehicle Plate Type and entering the full VIN. If there is no temporary number, enter the last 8 digits of your VIN as the Vehicle License Plate, select VIN NUMBER as the Vehicle Plate Type and enter the full VIN.
Please note that VINs do not contain the letters O, I and Q so that they are not confused with the numbers 0, 1 and 9. You must link the vehicle to your "permit" to avoid receiving a citation.

Once a permanent plate has been obtained, it must be added to the "permit" online.
Rental Vehicles - As is the case with any other vehicle, rental vehicles need to be registered online and linked to an individual's "permit". When the rental vehicle has been returned and is no longer in use, the information for the rental should be removed from both the "permit" and the parking profile as it may be rented and parked on campus by a different driver in the future.

Enforcement

The license plate is associated with the virtual "permit" and anyone who parks on campus must have a valid UCR parking "permit" and link their vehicle(s) to their "permit" through their UCR Parking Account. The purchaser is responsible for the accuracy of the license plate and vehicle information in the parking portal. Citations will be issued to the vehicle owner if inaccurate license plate information is self-reported in the parking portal or parking enforcement staff are unable to scan a license plate when the vehicle is parked. License plates must face the drive lane to be scanned for compliance. Vehicles from states that don't require a front license plate must be parked allowing the rear plate to be scanned from the drive aisle (don't back in).

Damaged/Illegible License Plates

License plates shall be maintained in a condition to be clearly legible. A person shall not erase the reflective coating of, paint over the reflective coating of, or alter a license plate to avoid visual or electronic capture of the license plate or its characters by state or local law enforcement. You must replace your license plates and registration stickers immediately if they’re lost, stolen, damaged, or made illegible in any way (CVC 5201.1.(c)). More information on replacements can be found on the DMV website.

License Plate Entry Tips

Passenger vehicles do not use the letters I, O and Q in the second or fourth position (for California).
Commercial vehicles do not use the letters I, O and Q (for California).
If you have a personalized plate with less than seven characters, or if you have a special character within your plate (heart, star, etc.), you will skip the special character and enter in the rest of the characters remaining on the plate.
Do not enter any spaces in the license plate even if there are spaces.
If your vehicle has a temporary paper license plate, register the vehicle online by entering the temporary number as the Vehicle License Plate, selecting TEMPORARY PLATE as the Vehicle Plate Type and entering the full VIN. If there is no temporary number, enter the last 8 digits of your VIN as the Vehicle License Plate, select VIN NUMBER as the Vehicle Plate Type and enter the full VIN. Please note that VINs do not contain the letters O, I and Q so that they are not confused with the numbers 0, 1 and 9.

Disabled Plates

For disabled license plates, if there is a DP or DV either before or after the numbers on your license plate, please enter as shown on plate (e.g., DP12345 or 12345DP). The Vehicle Plate Type for disabled plates is Special plate.

Dispenser Parking

Dispenser Parking requires entry of the vehicle license plate and, in some locations, the space number. The new dispensers acquired in 2019 interface with the LPR software.