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Good Roads for License Plate Spotting

Started by webny99, January 17, 2018, 11:23:37 PM

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webny99

I'd estimate that on an average 200-mile journey on the NYS Thruway, you would see at least one license plate from every state east of the Mississippi, especially during summer weekends, holidays, and other peak travel periods.

I'm sure there are other interstates closer to the center of the nation where license plate spotting is even more interesting.


formulanone

#1
Florida, especially the Orlando area, is pretty good for out-of-state plate spotting. I think we're usually able to hit 35-45 different states/provinces on our yearly road trip from Huntsville to South Florida. I-75 seems give more variety, I-95 gives you the Eastern Seaboard plates. Hawaii plates are definitely a unicorn way out there, although not so rare in California.

If you're into vanity plates, it looks like North Carolina and Maine seem to have a high ratio of vanity to standard-issue, by my unofficial estimation. Usually the bigger cities seem to have a greater percentage of them.

Texas gives you some Mexican plates (and non-USDM vehicles), but mostly in the big cities or the areas near the border.

Lastly, the rental car areas around any of the very large airports are great opportunities, although you're not quite as likely to find Montana and Utah, in Atlanta or New York...it's not impossible. I've gotten a Mississippi-plated rental in Boston, and likewise, a Massachusetts plate on a rental out of Medgar Evans Airport in Jackson, MS. (Keep in mind that many big off-site airport rental lots do not easily allow visitors.)

webny99

I-81 and I-390 both have a lot of Ontario and Quebec plates, not only on regular vehicle traffic, but also on commercial vehicles as well.

Around here, a lot, if not an outright majority, of rental vehicles seem to have Florida plates. Until a few years ago, I thought they were all snowbirds  :-D

1995hoo

Due to the large military and government population, the DC area's highways can be a good place for this, to the point where I've even seen Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands plates over the past few years (multiple vehicles, in each case, "multiple" here meaning "at least two"). I see more Canadian plates on I-95 on the way south to Florida than I generally do around here, but I see more Hawaii plates here than I do elsewhere.

The ones I almost never see are Newfoundland, PEI, and the Yukon–the only place in the US I've ever seen a Yukon plate was in Juneau, although the first one I ever saw was at the ferry terminal in Port-aux-Basques leaving Newfoundland. (Oddly, the only Northwest Territories plate I can ever remember seeing was at the parking lot at Western Brook Pond, also in Newfoundland.)

Regarding vanity plates, Virginia is an excellent spotting ground for them because the fee is only $10 extra a year (or $10 one time for antique plates). Ms1995hoo and I have vanity plates on three cars; only reason the fourth car doesn't have one is we haven't been able to decide on a good combination.
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formulanone

Quote from: 1995hoo on January 18, 2018, 09:02:20 AM
Regarding vanity plates, Virginia is an excellent spotting ground for them because the fee is only $10 extra a year (or $10 one time for antique plates). Ms1995hoo and I have vanity plates on three cars; only reason the fourth car doesn't have one is we haven't been able to decide on a good combination.

Yeah, I forgot about Virginia. $10 more seems like a good deal, I remember Florida wanted something like $50-100 more. Alabama tacks on a $50 fee.

SP Cook

My area is what you would expect.  On I-64 you see the states served by 64 and 70 west of St. Louis, plus Ohio.  On 77 you see those states. 79, especially on weekdays is virtually all ON, NY, PA. 

For some reason a lot of commercial trucks (pick up sized, not semis) and vans that are clearly local have Oregon plates.  Assume it is some sort of tax deal.


PHLBOS

Actually, most parking lots near or adjacent to any tourist destination are good places to see various plates at one location.

More specific to the topic at hand: due to CT, NJ and northern DE being pass-through states; one can certainly see an assortment of different license plates along I-78, 80, 84, 91, 95, 287, GSP & the NJ Turnpike.

Further north in MA; one can see an assortment along I-84, 290 & 495 due to these roads serving as a pass-through corridor for traffic not heading to/from the Greater Boston area.
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Rothman

Quote from: webny99 on January 17, 2018, 11:23:37 PM
I'd estimate that on an average 200-mile journey on the NYS Thruway, you would see at least one license plate from every state east of the Mississippi, especially during summer weekends, holidays, and other peak travel periods.

I'm sure there are other interstates closer to the center of the nation where license plate spotting is even more interesting.
...and your estimate would be off.

In my experience, license plates from Appalachia are few and far between on the Thruway.  OH, PA, MD, DE, VA, NJ, New England states, sure. GA and FL are also common.  You might see MI, IN, IL, NC and SC.  But WV, KY and TN are very rare.  AL is practically nonexistent. 
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

formulanone

#8
Quote from: SP Cook on January 18, 2018, 09:28:28 AM
For some reason a lot of commercial trucks (pick up sized, not semis) and vans that are clearly local have Oregon plates.  Assume it is some sort of tax deal.

Like Oregon...Maine, Indiana, and Oklahoma plates seem to have more out-of-state representation by heavy trucks rather than by personal vehicles. (Obviously, bordering states are going to have more of the latter.)

Quote from: Rothman on January 18, 2018, 09:35:28 AMAL is practically nonexistent. 
Spotting an Alabama "47-plate" in Cape Cod made us do a double-take. Vehicle looked about five years old, too aged to be a rental car.

Likewise, we tend to notice we're usually the only Alabama plate around when tooling around between Palm Beach and Miami.

7/8

In Southwestern Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe, two roads stand out for licence plates (IMO):
- The QEW (the main route between Naiagara Falls and Toronto naturally has lots of out-of-province plates)
- The 401 (the portion between the 402 and 403 is a merger between different routes which results in more plates to see. It's part of a shortcut between MI and NY, and it's another way to Toronto)

The most common far-away plates I notice are Florida (likely from snowbirds) and Alberta (since many Ontarians moved out there for work).

webny99

Quote from: Rothman on January 18, 2018, 09:35:28 AM
Quote from: webny99 on January 17, 2018, 11:23:37 PM
I'd estimate that on an average 200-mile journey on the NYS Thruway, you would see at least one license plate from every state east of the Mississippi, especially during summer weekends, holidays, and other peak travel periods.

I'm sure there are other interstates closer to the center of the nation where license plate spotting is even more interesting.
...and your estimate would be off.

In my experience, license plates from Appalachia are few and far between on the Thruway.  OH, PA, MD, DE, VA, NJ, New England states, sure. GA and FL are also common.  You might see MI, IN, IL, NC and SC.  But WV, KY and TN are very rare.  AL is practically nonexistent.

Because I'm sure you've license plate spotted for 200 straight miles  :-D

In general, I agree with your points, including that AL plates are very rare. However, I see KY and TN quite often between Rochester and the PA line (the stretch I travel most frequently). I also find Rhode Island to be by far the most rare among the New England states.

kphoger

Quote from: 1995hoo on January 18, 2018, 09:02:20 AM
Due to the large military and government population, the DC area's highways can be a good place for this, to the point where I've even seen Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands plates over the past few years.

Shoot, I've spotted all three of those in DC, and I've only been to DC once!

Quote from: 1995hoo on January 18, 2018, 09:02:20 AM
The ones I almost never see are Newfoundland, PEI, and the Yukon–the only place in the US I've ever seen a Yukon plate was in Juneau, although the first one I ever saw was at the ferry terminal in Port-aux-Basques leaving Newfoundland. (Oddly, the only Northwest Territories plate I can ever remember seeing was at the parking lot at Western Brook Pond, also in Newfoundland.)

I've never seen a single plate from the Yukon, NWT, or PEI.  I think I've only seen two from Newfoundland–one in DC, and one on a car that was always parallel-parked by my place of work in Chicagoland several years ago.




Quote from: webny99 on January 18, 2018, 11:01:56 AM
Because I'm sure you've license plate spotted for 200 straight miles  :-D

What's unreasonable about that?  200 miles isn't all that far, and license plate spotting isn't all that hard to do.  And I, for one, find it difficult to stop license plate spotting, even when traffic is thick and I should really be keeping my eyes off the back end of cars in the next lane over.
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kphoger

My favorite highway for license plate spotting is I-35 south of San Antonio.  There are plenty of Mexican plates, but there are also plenty of far-away US and Canadian plates on long-haul semi trucks headed to or from Laredo.
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Male pronouns, please.

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US 89

Quote from: PHLBOS on January 18, 2018, 09:35:11 AM
Actually, most parking lots near or adjacent to any tourist destination are good places to see various plates at one location.

Agreed. I remember seeing many plates from distant states in the parking lots at Glacier and Arches National Parks.

dfilpus

Quote from: roadguy2 on January 18, 2018, 06:25:56 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on January 18, 2018, 09:35:11 AM
Actually, most parking lots near or adjacent to any tourist destination are good places to see various plates at one location.

Agreed. I remember seeing many plates from distant states in the parking lots at Glacier and Arches National Parks.
On road trips with my family in the 1960's, the best places for license plate spotting were at Old Faithful in Yellowstone and Niagara Falls State Park.

adventurernumber1

#15
Probably Interstate 75 in Georgia and Florida is among the best from around here. I-75 in this part of the South consistently has a lot of traffic, that comes from a pretty wide variety of places. Traveling down I-75 in Georgia, it is not uncommon at all to see tons of Michigan, Ohio Kentucky, Tennessee, probably also a lot of Illinois (especially from Chicagoland), Indiana, and the sort, license plates. There are a lot of people headed south on I-75 in these parts, and they come from a lot of different places. Florida especially would, and not just on I-75 alone, be an excellent place for license plate spotting. After having just come back myself from a trip to California, I'd say that state is a great one for license plate spotting as well.


Speaking of said trip to California, my parents rented a car there, and if I recall correctly, it actually had a Florida license plate on it.


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webny99

Quote from: dfilpus on January 19, 2018, 02:38:39 PM
Quote from: roadguy2 on January 18, 2018, 06:25:56 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on January 18, 2018, 09:35:11 AM
Actually, most parking lots near or adjacent to any tourist destination are good places to see various plates at one location.

Agreed. I remember seeing many plates from distant states in the parking lots at Glacier and Arches National Parks.
On road trips with my family in the 1960's, the best places for license plate spotting were at Old Faithful in Yellowstone and Niagara Falls State Park.
Yep. I too have found Niagara Falls and excellent spot for plate spotting, both in parking lots and at the border crossings, since many Americans travel to the Canadian side.

MCRoads

Due to the military population in Norfolk, you see a lot of out of state plates. (My parents are guilty) Some of the "oddity's"  (such as Alaska, Hawaii, and even Porto Rico, have been spotted at leas once there. If you ask me, the HRBT is the best place to see plates, cause you never get over it in rush hour in under an hour.
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bassoon1986

I-10 in the gulf coast states during summer time. Everyone is headed towards Alabama or Florida to the beach. Or to Disney


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RobbieL2415

Yea, the NYS Thruway always has a plethora of different license plates.

I-95, particularly the NJ Tpke. section also has a lot.

Finrod

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on January 19, 2018, 07:49:15 PM
Probably Interstate 75 in Georgia and Florida is among the best from around here. I-75 in this part of the South consistently has a lot of traffic, that comes from a pretty wide variety of places. Traveling down I-75 in Georgia, it is not uncommon at all to see tons of Michigan, Ohio Kentucky, Tennessee, probably also a lot of Illinois (especially from Chicagoland), Indiana, and the sort, license plates. There are a lot of people headed south on I-75 in these parts, and they come from a lot of different places.

Heck, just in the Atlanta metro area, I've seen Washington state, Alaska, and Hawaii plates.
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webny99

I've heard that Glacier National Park is an excellent spot for license plate spotting in the summer. I'd extend that to say all National Parks are good locations for it. My experience at Great Smoky Mountains NP tends to confirm this.

andrepoiy

I've once seen a French plate in Nova Scotia - probably came from St. Pierre and Miquelon.

Flint1979

In Michigan you see a lot of Ohio, Indiana, Ontario, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin. Then you'll see Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Georgia, Virginia, Texas. You rarely see any of the other provinces other than Ontario from Canada, the western states are rare as well other than California you'll see those once in awhile too. I can't remember the last time I saw a Wyoming plate or Nevada. On I-75 In Michigan the most common ones are Ohio and Ontario after Michigan. I think Michigan's plates are blah though but they have 4 or 5 different plates.



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