It's possible, says Don Kearns, KU's director of parking services. As chairman of the International Parking Institute, a trade organization with more than 1,400 members in 20 countries, Kearns has been focusing on the latest technical and cost-saving innovations in the parking industry. Last week he oversaw the group's 1998 International Parking Conference and Exposition in Seattle, which attracted more than 2,000 people and 170 vendors. And some of the latest devices and systems those vendors demonstrated in Seattle may soon appear on the KU campus.
Drivers come in and park, then walk to the parking station and type in the stall number.
The system records a special sticker or bar code mounted on the car as it passes by and then sends a bill to the owner, usually monthly or annually. Advanced proximity readers are used widely in Europe as a security device. When a car enters a gated parking lot, the machine records the car's color, make, license and photographs the driver. To leave the lot, all components, including the driver, must match or the device will refuse to open the gates. The insurance companies are footing the bill because it is cutting the auto-theft rate dramatically.