Ourense City Council has taken a decisive step in modernising urban mobility with the launch of OCR-ID, the automatic number plate recognition system developed by the Galician company Labrax Soluciones. Two Local Police patrol cars are already on the road fitted with four Adaptive Recognition Lynet cameras —with a 5-megapixel sensor and infrared night vision— capable of reading the number plates of the vehicles they pass, on the move and in any lighting conditions, with no need for civil works or for installing fixed camera gantries in the city.
With this deployment, officers can check the status of every vehicle in under a second while on patrol: traffic enforcement, parking enforcement and Low Emission Zone (LEZ) enforcement. The system can process up to 10,000 number plates an hour with all four cameras working simultaneously.
Connected to the police platform and the DGT
The patrol cars' readings do not stay in the vehicle: they are integrated into Appolo Traffik, the traffic module of Appolo, the management platform currently used by Ourense Local Police. As a point of presence on the SARA network, the platform is connected in real time to the Directorate-General for Traffic, so every number plate read is instantly checked against the official databases: vehicles without insurance, without a valid roadworthiness test (ITV) or subject to a search order, as well as any breach of DGT regulations or municipal by-laws.
The whole process generates evidence with administrative validity and a chain of custody, which speeds up processing and reduces the margin for error compared with manual checks.
Direct benefits for residents and businesses
The aim of the project is not to raise revenue, but to make the city work better:
- More parking turnover. Effective parking enforcement stops spaces being occupied indefinitely, which means more free spaces available throughout the day. Residents find a space sooner and shops in the centre get more visits: a space that turns over several times a day means several more potential customers for local businesses.
- Less circling traffic. When parking is easier, fewer vehicles drive round looking for a space, with less noise, fewer emissions and safer streets.
- A LEZ that is genuinely complied with. Automated enforcement ensures that the Low Emission Zone does its job: cleaner air in the city centre, without relying on occasional manual checks.
- Officers focused on what matters. Technology frees officers from repetitive checking and lets them devote their time to public safety.
Applying for LEZ access from your phone, with no queues or paperwork
The second phase of the project will switch on Centinel360, the Labrax Soluciones solution for managing applications for access to regulated zones: low emission zones, use of the public highway and other municipal permits.
Centinel360 consists of a web platform and a free app for iOS and Android from which any resident can register their vehicles and apply for LEZ access authorisation in a few steps. The City Council and the Local Police manage applications from their back office and, once approved, the authorisation is automatically synchronised with the city's cameras, which recognise the vehicle and let it in with no further formalities.
The result is a time saving for everyone: residents sort out in minutes from their phones what used to require trips and paperwork, and the administration eliminates manual processing and gains traceability throughout the process.
Technology that grows with the city
The Labrax Soluciones platform is ready to go beyond patrol cars: it supports cameras mounted on motorcycles, drones or portable cases, allowing traffic and parking enforcement to be extended to any part of the city without investment in fixed infrastructure. A flexible model that makes Ourense a benchmark for smart mobility and can be replicated in any city.
About Labrax Soluciones
Labrax Soluciones is a Galician technology company, headquartered in A Coruña with offices in Culleredo and Madrid, specialising in software for public administrations, security forces and emergency services. More than 50 public administrations rely on its platforms, including the City Councils of Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra and Ourense. Its technology is certified under the Spanish National Security Framework (ENS, High category) and holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO/IEC 42001 for artificial intelligence management, with full GDPR compliance.
