Barlad, county seat of Vaslui County, covers 15 km² and serves a community of around 60000 residents. A major parking operator in the city needed to verify that parking fees were being collected accurately and ethically — and confirm the business was operating at its true value.
With 7 access points across 2000 m² of parking space, manual oversight was becoming unmanageable. Traffic volume was growing beyond what human resources could reliably handle.
Relying solely on manual reporting, the administration claimed only 1,000 cars per day used the parking. The reality — as the project would soon reveal — was far higher.
An additional requirement: local residents needed automated, toll-free access to their own neighborhood.
Barlad Parking — City Surveillance
Barlad Parking — City Surveillance
Metrici proposed a complete installation: 7 Hikvision DS-2CD2232I-5 cameras (one per access point), an Intel dual-processor server, 1 Metrici BL license, and 6 Metrici EL licenses.
Metrici LPR also delivered a custom optimization for plate detection and recognition under any lighting conditions and weather — ensuring consistent accuracy around the clock.
The owner now tracks every vehicle entering and exiting the parking 24/7. Real-time reports and live parking status help prevent congestion. Drivers can enter at one point and exit at any of the 7 barriers — no forced return to the original entry.
The results were striking: actual traffic was three times higher than the reported figure — approximately 3,000 cars per day. The project cost was recovered in just 18 days.
Manual reporting had hidden the true traffic volume. LPR automation revealed 3,000 cars per day — three times the claimed figure — and restored revenue that was being lost.
The investment paid for itself in just 18 days of corrected revenue collection — one of the fastest ROI figures recorded in Metrici's case studies.
Local residents are registered in the Metrici Action List and enjoy toll-free, automatic entry — no manual verification, no delays at the barrier.
The parking project's success led to a natural next step: the city administration commissioned Metrici for a city-wide deployment, expanding LPR coverage into Barlad's urban traffic network.
The Barlad installation demonstrates how LPR-based parking management can uncover hidden revenue and pave the way for smart city expansion.
