Definition: pay-by-plate parking

A parking system that uses kiosks to pay for parking by license plate number. Prior to pay-by-plate parking, kiosks have been available in many jurisdictions whereby drivers pay for a certain amount of time, receive a ticket and place it on the dashboard. Pay-by-plate parking eliminates the ticket because drivers type in their license plate number and do not have to go back to their cars to place the ticket. The information is available to all the meter readers.

Phone apps integrate with many systems throughout the country, which makes it even easier to pay for parking by not having to walk to the nearest kiosk. The driver's credit card and car description are maintained in the app, and all they do is plug in the time. The app uses the GPS to identify the car's location.

Introducing Pay-By-Plate

In 2018, the borough of New Hope, Pennsylvania deployed a new pay-by-plate parking system.