Starting on Monday, June 26, drivers using UVic parking lots will be forced to input their licence plate numbers when buying hourly or full-day parking passes.

The new “Pay by Licence” (PBL) program is the first step in UVic’s plan to replace all paper tickets with what UVic calls “virtual permits”.

For now, parking rates and the payment process are the same — only the addition of inputting a licence plate is different. The individualized nature of each ticket, however, means that drivers are no longer able to share hourly or full-day parking passes.

A Campus Security news release says the program will reduce litter on campus, reduce the time spent walking back to a car to put the parking pass in the dashboard, and eliminate the chance of losing your pass.

The PBL system paves the way for UVic’s ultimate parking plan — “Licence Plate Recognition” (LPR). Starting in the fall of 2017, all parkers on campus — those there for the day or with an annual pass — will register their licence plate number before parking. Parking permits will be tracked by a campus security vehicle driving around campus taking photos of car licence plates.

If a licence plate is found that doesn’t have an attached virtual permit, that vehicle is subject to a citation.

Students buying an annual parking pass will register their licence plate online through Netlink ID. UVic hopes that online registration for parking opens the possibility of mobile payment as an additional payment option.

For more information, check out Campus Security’s FAQ here.