Beginning November 25, 2019, UC San Diego Transportation Services has expanded their new pay-by-plate program, using the app Parkmobile as part of their goal of phasing out plastic and paper permits. TS sent out a notice about this expansion, stating:
“Transportation Services (TS) will be expanding the pay-by-plate program for all pay stations (excluding patient parking) starting November 25, 2019. Using license plates as a parking credential enables TS to verify parking fee payments by electronically reading vehicle license plates; essentially, the plate becomes the permit. This added expansion is part of our commitment to our environment, reducing the need for plastic and paper permits. Using license plates as the parking credential also safeguards permitholders from warnings or citations when permits fall or are forgotten.
In this next phase, campus pay stations will be reconfigured to accept license plate information, eliminating the need for visitors to display a paper permit on their dashboard. The pay-by-plate conversion starts November 25, 2019 with the pay stations located in lots P703, P704, and P705. We will continue to convert the pay stations on campus and we will be completed by no later than December 20, 2019. Signage will be posted at the entrance of the lots and on the pay station’s screen.
In the future, UC San Diego will move towards using license plates in lieu of physical permits for our faculty, staff and students. In preparation, we ask that you log into your parking account at transportation.ucsd.edu and review the vehicle(s) you have listed. Please ensure that both license plates and vehicles are accurate and update your account, as needed.”
Although this may seem to be a small change, thinking about the number of plastic student, faculty, and staff permits are made every quarter, in addition to the paper visitor passes, phasing out these physical permits in exchange for a pay-by-plate program would have a fairly large environmental impact!