How ANPR event parking works with parktec
ANPR event parking with parktec is simple at heart: the driver books against their number plate, and on the day the plate is the ticket. Drivers do not need a paper pass, a barcode or a permit on the windscreen to get in: the plate does the job. Our gate app reads the plate on the phone or tablet in the steward's hand, checks it against your bookings and shows a clear result, so cars keep moving and unbooked vehicles are spotted as they arrive. It comes from the team behind Event Support Team and Big Parking, with 25 years of event parking behind it.
1. Drivers book against their plate
Visitors book on a site in your own branding. They enter their registration, choose the day they are coming and get an instant confirmation, and the make and model are looked up from the plate. Capacity is counted per day and per car park, so the booking system will not sell a space you do not have. Our guide to stopping overselling explains how.
2. The gate app reads the plate
On the day, stewards open the parktec gate app on an iPhone, from the App Store, or on an Android phone or tablet, and sign on with a simple PIN. They point the camera at an arriving car and the app reads the plate on the device itself. The reading and the check both happen on the device, which is why the gate keeps working when the signal drops.
3. Green means in, red means stop
A plate with a valid booking for that day and that car park shows green: let them in. A plate with no booking shows a clear red result, backed by a warning tone and vibration on the steward's device. A car booked for a different day is flagged too, so the steward can deal with it calmly at the window rather than guessing.
4. It works offline, then syncs
Plenty of event car parks are fields with weak or no signal. The app holds the event's bookings, keeps reading and checking plates with no connection, and keeps its records on the device until signal returns, then syncs by itself. Stewards just connect once before the gates open so the latest bookings are on the device.
Every check on record
Each check is logged with the plate, the time, the car park and the steward, plus GPS location where it is available. Your team gets a full record of who came in, who was turned away and when, which is useful when a query comes in after the event and when you plan the next one.
Unbooked vehicles, flagged as they arrive
An unbooked car is identified at the gate, not after the event. The steward then has options that keep the line moving:
- Sell a space on the spot. A walk-up driver can be sold a space at the gate, and the sale is recorded.
- Add a car at the gate. If a customer has booked but turns up in a car that is not on their booking, staff can look them up by email and add the plate so they are not stopped again.
- Patrol mode. Roaming stewards can check cars that are already parked, to catch anyone who got past the gate.
- End-of-day sweep. At close, a steward using the gate app on an Android device can sweep the car park, and every car scanned is sorted for a team lead to review.
No kit to wire up
Because the plate is read on the device, there are no cameras to mount, no cables to run and no power to find at the gate. Need another lane for a busy arrival window? Hand another steward a phone or tablet with the app on it. That makes ANPR parking for events practical where fixed equipment would never pay for itself: a showground car park used a few weekends a year, an overflow field at a stadium, or a festival site that is farmland for the rest of the year.
Fixed-lane ANPR cameras for permanent entrances are in development. Today, parktec ANPR means number plate recognition in the gate app on phones and tablets.
ANPR car park management, joined up
Every check feeds a live control room for your team: booked, arrived and spaces left, day by day and per car park. The booking site, the office and the gate all work from the same picture, which is what turns a plate reader into proper event car parking management. Bookings can be imported and exported by CSV, and your team can send email or text updates to booked customers when plans change.
Where it fits
parktec runs on match days at stadiums and clubs, and at festivals, showgrounds, arenas, exhibition and event venues, alongside partners such as JustPark. We deliver match-day parking for The FA at stadiums across the country, with every vehicle verified by its number plate on arrival. See how it works for car park management for stadiums and sports venues, for festival parking and showground car parks, and for councils managing event-day traffic. Selling entry as well? parktec event ticketing puts tickets and parking in one checkout. For the whole platform, see our event parking software.
See a plate turn green
For the driver's side of the story, read our plain-English guide to how ANPR parking works at events. Or book a demo and we will show you number plate recognition at work on your own gate.