AI for Parking Management

Parking has long been one of the most established applications for ALPR. But at FF Group’s Virtual Summit, industry leaders made it clear: parking is evolving fast - from static infrastructure into intelligent, responsive environments that shape customer experience and urban safety.

In Europe, ALPR-powered barrier systems are widely used - but a shift is underway.

“We see a clear trend in Europe moving toward barrierless parking. All the input data needed for parking payment and enforcement can now be captured at the edge.”
- Jan Hazlbauer, Chief Product Officer, FF Group

By embedding ALPR and other analytics directly on the camera, cities and operators reduce friction, costs, and complexity. This isn’t just about cars - it’s about seamless access, real-time insights, and smarter operations.

Regional differences are driving innovation in different ways. In the U.S., for example, rapid-deployment trailer systems are booming - combining ALPR, solar panels, and wireless communications to serve everything from law enforcement to retail security.

“One of the things I learned very quickly when I got to the U.S. was the use of mobile trailers with LPR or with surveillance cameras - I’ve never seen so many.”
- Jan Hazlbauer, FF Group

At the device level, camera manufacturers are meeting this demand with powerful on-board capabilities.

“It’s not only license plate recognition, it’s also make, model, color. We can do wrong-way detection, speed violations - and all of this is at the edge.”
- Vadim Kostylev, Product Manager, Hanwha Vision America

But as powerful as the technology has become, the user experience is what ultimately defines success. Dave Baker from LVT underlined feeling safe is big part of that user experience. 

“The parking environment sets the tone for the user experience. A person entering a garage or parking lot should feel safe, clean, and monitored. Even if it’s not verbalized, it’s part of the psychology.”
- Dave Baker, Senior Solutions Architect, Live View Technologies

That perception of safety is being engineered through integrated solutions - not just ALPR, but also thermal imaging, environmental monitoring, and acoustic analytics. Dave noted that LVT clients are layering these tools to monitor large open spaces, parking lots, and event venues.

“We’re combining it with thermal. We’re combining it with sound. And now you can start adding additional analytics.”
- Dave Baker, LVT

As AI becomes more capable of recognizing non-plate vehicle attributes (like roof racks, decals, or even damage), parking lots are turning into data-rich intelligence zones - useful not only for access control, but for retail planning, law enforcement, and traffic strategy.

And yet, many challenges remain - particularly in integrating all this data while maintaining a seamless user experience. Integrators like Stone Security are designing and implementing such systems. The easier the solution appears for the end-user, the better work has the integrator done. 
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“A good parking system isn’t just about automation. It’s about the first impression. It’s about ease of use. And I think the part that’s really hard - and why integrators don’t get as much credit as they deserve - is because all of that technology has to work together behind the scenes.”
- Andy Schreyer, VP of Security Technology & Marketing, StoneSecurity

Parking is no longer just a logistical afterthought. It’s becoming a strategic asset - a first point of contact, a generator of actionable data, and a frontline for safety and customer perception. What used to be static infrastructure is now a dynamic, AI-powered layer of city intelligence.

FF Group, along with partners like Hanwha, LVT, and Stone Security, is showing what’s possible when edge computing meets system integration. ALPR is no longer simply about logging plates. It’s about enabling smarter access, faster response, and better-informed decisions - in real time, and at the edge.

As cities and private operators rethink their physical environments, the question is no longer “how do we manage parking?” but “how do we extract intelligence from it?”

The future of parking is not gates and guards - it’s insight, invisibly embedded.
And those who recognize that now are building not just smarter lots, but smarter cities.

Watch the full summit session here:

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