A ticket is a printed document that confers upon a user the right to access a service, such as the right to park his/her vehicle in a car park or use public transport. The ticket provides confirmation that the user has booked or paid for the service granted by the service provider, in this case the right to park his/her vehicle in a dedicated area (i.e. a car park).
The ticket therefore constitutes physical evidence of the user's right to use the service, where such a right is subject to a dispute between the customer and the service provider, where the service provider wishes to inspect the user's ticket, or when the user leaves the car park in question. In other words, a ticket is the means by which the motorist or motorcyclist demonstrates his/her right to access the car park and park his/her vehicle there for the amount of time equivalent to the value paid (hour, day, week, month, etc.).
Parking tickets normally include the date and time at which the user parked his/her vehicle. They also include the price paid and the time at which the user is required to leave the car park, where payment has been made. In most car parks, tickets are obtained upon entry and are issued by an automatic machine. The user then keeps his/her ticket until he/she wishes to stop using the service, and must then pay the corresponding amount to leave the car park. Where a user loses his/her ticket, this may cause a problem in some cases.
Some car parks are able to reproduce a lost ticket using an automatic number plate recognition system. Paris France Parking is one of the pioneers in this field, with all tickets issued bearing the user's vehicle registration number.