The NPS told 404 Media in a statement: “Yosemite National Park uses a traffic-monitoring system to measure vehicle counts, travel times and entrance-station wait times. The system helps the park better understand traffic conditions and provide visitors with information to help them make informed decisions about when to visit and where parking is available. The cameras are not connected to law enforcement or DMV databases.”

I call BS. You can do traffic flow monitoring (with timestamps) without scanning explicitly for individual license plates. The technology has been around for decades. PIR sensors, pressure pads, or little pneumatic rubber tubes.