UNCW goes green with new paperless parking pass system

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The days of waiting in line for your parking pass are long gone at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

The parking department is rolling out a new license plate recognition system that will eliminate physical parking passes. When students, faculty, and staff go online to purchase a pass, it will automatically connect to their license plate.

Parking Manager David Cook explains the license plates are scanned using devices attached to the tops of the parking patrol cars. A tablet inside the patrol cars will alert staff if the plate is registered with a pass or not. Cook says the devices can scan an entire parking lot in a minute to a minute and a half.

“It’s very efficient and it lends to our sustainability,” Cook said. “No more plastics and paper, so yeah we’re very excited about it.”

The only requirement is drivers must park with their license plate facing the travel lane. For people who prefer to back into spots and don’t already have a duplicate license plate on the front of their vehicles, UNCW is selling vanity plates that can be attached to the front of the cars so they can be scanned from either side.

Eventually, Cook says parking in a way that makes your plate unscannable will result in a ticket, but there will be a grace period as everyone gets used to the new system.