A university deployed Spot on a 16-space, 30-minute visitor lot. Manual patrols averaged ~7 violations / month. In the first 30 days with automated enforcement, the system captured 651, with zero added headcount.
“We went from arguing about whether the lot was being abused to having a queue of timestamped evidence every morning.”
Director of Parking & TransportationMid-sized private university
Violations · month 1
Vs. manual patrols
×
After-hours share
%
Evidence coverage
%
Permitting
Permitting as flexible as your operation.
Rate plans, permit products, parking rules, and lot coverage, composed exactly how your admins configure them in Spot, with a separate chain for every parker type.
Faculty
Dedicated faculty product with its own rate plan and rule.
Faculty permits run on a zero-dollar annual plan, a green-tagged product, and a rule that only allows staff plates, then coverage rolls up to your main campus lot.
Annual planStaff-only rule
Cycles automatically · hover catalog to pause
Faculty catalog
$0
annual faculty rate plan
4 layers · same graph as Spot admin
Rate plan
Faculty Rate Plan
$0 · annual
prices
Product
Faculty
Staff & faculty
enforces
Parking rule
Active
Faculty only
Permit required
covers
Lot
Main Campus
412 stalls
Rate plan
Faculty Rate Plan
$0 · annual
prices
Product
Faculty
Staff & faculty
enforces
Parking rule
Active
Faculty only
Permit required
covers
Lot
Main Campus
412 stalls
Rate plan
Faculty Rate Plan
$0 · annual
prices
Product
Faculty
Staff & faculty
enforces
Parking rule
Active
Faculty only
Permit required
covers
Lot
Main Campus
412 stalls
Rate plans
Flat, daily, monthly, or annual pricing, each tied to the product it funds.
Permit products
Faculty, student, visitor, whitelist, and custom types with their own color and rules.
Lot coverage
Rules attach to one lot or many; enforcement follows the same graph your admins configure.
Real orgs run dozens of permit types across hundreds of lots.
Officer tools
The Spot Watch app, in three modes.
Officers carry one app, for live lot status, scan-to-cite, and a queue of flagged sessions surfaced by the cameras. Same app at every level of automation.
Map
Live lot status with violations highlighted in red.
CALIFORNIA
8ABC123
On-device
Finding plate
AUTO
9:41
Dynamic Island
Scan Plate
On-device plate lock. AUTO-capture. Then cite.
Speed cite 1 / 6 · North Lot
Vehicle
POQWL9 (WA)
Location
Lot North Lot · Spot 75
Timing
Parked 18h 0m · Active 18h 0m
Fee (stacked)
$20.00
Violations
• No valid permit
Swipe left: Pass · Swipe right: Cite
Evidence
Overhead / session imagery when available.
Cite all (6) · review disclaimer
Pass
Cite
9:41
Dynamic Island
Speed Cite
Review a queue of flagged sessions. Pass or cite, fast.
Map
Live lot status with violations highlighted in red.
Scan Plate
On-device plate lock. AUTO-capture. Then cite.
Speed Cite
Review a queue of flagged sessions. Pass or cite, fast.
Available on iOS and Android. Includes manual handheld override for fully automated lots.
Citation lifecycle
Every citation, from issued to closed.
Citations flow through one funnel, paid, mailed, appealed, or voided. Appeals branch to approved or denied. Hover a stage or path to follow it through.
Happy path, sessions that ended without a violation.Sessions that produced at least one violation event.Violation events that became issued citations.Violation events closed without issuing a citation.Citations paid in full.Citations dispatched through the mail (3rd-party integration).Citations appealed by the parker.Citations voided by an admin.Appeals reviewed and approved.Appeals reviewed and denied.Every completed parking visit in the selected range.SessionsAuthorized parkers, permit was valid, time limit not exceeded.Authorizedno violationSessions that triggered at least one violation event.ViolationsIssued citations, paper, mailed, or in-app.CitationsViolations that did not advance to a citation, warning-only, reversed, or still in review.No citewarning onlyCitations paid in full through the parker portal.PaidCitations sent via 3rd-party Mail-by-Citation integration (requires LPR).Mailed3rd partyParker submitted an appeal in the portal.AppealedCitations voided by admin (mistakes, special cases).VoidedAppeals approved, citation dismissed.ApprovedAppeals denied, citation upheld.Denied
Same stages as the admin portal, this view is for the story, not the live counts.
Integrations
Plays nicely with the rest of your stack.
Physical gates open on a permitted plate. Mail-by-Citation sends notices through compliant 3rd-party vendors. SMS keeps parkers in the loop.
Physical Gate Integration
LPR opens the gate. Officer doesn't need to.
Connect Spot to your existing gate controller. Permitted plates raise the arm; everyone else gets routed to pay or check-in.
Approach
Read plate
Match permit
Open gate
Gate controllerRelay 1
Vehicle in detection zone
Waiting for plate read…
Plate-Permit-GateClosed
Mail-by-Citation
Skip the envelope. We mail it for you.
For lots with LPR, Spot can dispatch citations through compliant 3rd-party mail vendors - address lookup, demand notices, and proof of mailing handled automatically.
Mail vendor
Address lookup
Proof of mailing
SMS Notifications
Optional add-on. Notify parkers about a violation, payment, or appeal update by text.
Custom integrations available on Enterprise plans.
See enforcement in your industry.
The same platform, tuned for the rules of the lot you operate.
No. Scan to Cite runs on a phone, no cameras, no installation. You can graduate to Digital Gate or Smart Enforcement when you're ready.
How does Mail-by-Citation work?
For lots with LPR, Spot looks up the registered owner of a plate and dispatches the citation through a compliant 3rd-party mail vendor. Address lookup, demand notices, and proof of mailing are handled automatically.
Can I keep my existing gate hardware?
Yes. Spot usually integrates with existing gate controllers via standard relays. Paid and permitted plates raise the arm automatically; everyone else pays at QR or the kiosk. The dedicated story is on /products/enforcement/gates.
What if I just need event enforcement for a weekend?
Scan to Cite was built for this. Spin up enforcement on phones for a one-day event or pop-up, no cameras, no installation, same citation lifecycle as our fully automated plans.
Down-to-the-Space vs. Zoned: what's the difference?
Down-to-the-Space tracks every individual stall (e.g., Spot 75 is permitted, Spot 76 is not). Zoned tracks groups of spots together (e.g., Zone A is visitor, Zone B is faculty). Down-to-the-Space requires aerial coverage; Zoned can run on entry/exit LPR alone.
How fast is a citation issued?
On automated plans, citations are evaluated continuously and surface in your queue within seconds of the violating event. On Scan to Cite, the officer issues on the spot.
How do appeals work?
Parkers submit appeals through the parker portal. Admins review timestamped evidence (entry/exit photos, plate reads, session timing) and approve or deny. Approved appeals dismiss the citation; denied appeals uphold it.
Can officers override an automated citation?
Yes. Officers using Spot Watch can void, override, or escalate any flagged session, even on fully automated lots. The handheld stays available as a backstop.
Enforcement that scales with you.
Start anywhere.
Whether you need handheld scan-to-cite for a weekend or aerial coverage for a portfolio, we'll help you pick the right rung, and graduate when you're ready.