I need to know if you knew this and im really stupid

[SouthWestmom]

So we have those parking meters in all the shopping centres where you get a little yellow disc on entry, insert it and pay when you are done, and then it comes back out and you use it to exit.
Except you don't - it's not the same disc that comes back out. I absolutely never knew this and thought my disc went in, I paid, it updated to say I'd paid and then came out.

Today for the first time ever, a blue disc came out.

The discs aren't being "written" or "erased". They all just are coded with a unique ID that is read whenever they are put in or out of a machine.

So you arrive at the car park and the machine spits out the disc to you, e.g Disc1 and records the time of entry e.g 13:00 on 25th July 2019.

When you go to pay you put the disc in and it knows when you arrived so how much you need to pay so can then spit out another disc I.e Disc2 and records a status in the system of "paid" so when Disc2 is put in the exit barrier it lifts.

Same with tickets and number plate recognition, it issued a ticket and record your number plate and links them, when your ticket is paid you then got to the exit barrier and if it can recognise your number plate it lifts the barrier without needing a ticket, if it doesn't read your number plate clearly then you can still use the ticket which also is recognised that you have paid up

We had the little chips in a carpark in Sheffield...totally threw us I had never seen the like

@RustyBear that's really interesting thank you. I had surmised that in some way or another the technology must have become more sophisticated rather than less, but hadn't twigged they must be putting the reg. on the ticket. Brilliant, so much better than trying to type the number on a touch screen!

Incrediblysadtoo

I love the auto number plate recognition thing! I feel like minor royalty as the barrier rises and I sweep through as the lesser mortals are stretching out of their windows to try to get their tickets/tokens into/out of the machine. Saves me at least 3.5 seconds out of my busy busy schedule

And it's cheaper!

They use ANR if you prepay at our local station - it does contribute to an unwarranted sense of importance.

Glad I'm not alone in my ignorance of parking systems. I shall be nicer to my little discs now I know we shall be parting sooner.