The era of Pennsylvania vehicle registration stickers will end December 31, 2016.
The death of the current registration system was included in Act 89 that was approved in 2013. The plan is to allow customers to renew online or via mail. In place of a sticker, drivers will have to keep a permanent registration card, which can be printed out, PennDOT officials said. Registration cards on mobile devices will be incorporated eventually.
“Without the registration sticker, the future of Pennsylvania vehicle owners certainly looks brighter with respect to the registration renewal process,” PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said. “By further leveraging technology, we can make renewing your vehicle’s registration and having an immediate, permanent registration credential in hand as easy as spending a few minutes online from your home computer.”
Officials stressed that vehicle owners will still need to have “their vehicles registered and inspected, but will not be required to display a registration sticker on their license plate after December 31, 2016.”
Officials show off an ALPR system that could be funded through the saving created by phasing out registration stickers.
Credit: State Of PA
The money saved by phasing out the tiny stickers that go on the top of license plates, which is estimated to be $3.1 million per year, could go towards a proposed grant program that would help police purchase and maintain automatic license plate reader (ALPR) systems, PennDOT officials announced Wednesday.
State officials and lawmakers were given a demonstration of a patrol car-mounted ALPR system in Harrisburg.
Here’s what PennDOT says about ALPR systems:
Plate reader technology holds numerous advantages over the visual inspection of registration stickers, which can be counterfeited, sold, affixed to dead plates or applied to plates for which they were not intended. By querying the registration information using ALPR technology, a law enforcement officer can identify expired vehicle registrations and insurance coverage. If there is something wrong, the officer would be immediately alerted by the ALPR of a problem with the vehicle’s registration.
awmakers receiving a demonstration of the ALPR system.
Credit: State Of PA
Richards said the ALPR systems, which are already used in many Lower Bucks County police departments, will be a “true force multiplier” for agencies.
The savings to fund the grant program will be funded through reduced mailing and production costs, according to PennDOT.
The final registration sticker will be issued on December 30, 2016.
