Pennsylvania is getting ready to end the use of annual registration stickers to verify valid license plates.

PennDOT says the last registration sticker will be issued December 30.

Although drivers will still need to have their vehicles registered and inspected, they will not be required to display a registration sticker on their license plate after that date.

Police will instead use Automated License Plate Readers to verify vehicle registrations.

“License plate reader technology allows a single law enforcement officer to quickly, accurately and reliably check the status of thousands of license plates on a single shift using information from  PennDOT’s registration database to determine if there are expired registrations or lack of insurance for the vehicle,” said Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards in a news release. “It is a true force multiplier.”

PennDOT says that plate reader technology holds several advantages over the visual inspection of registration stickers, which can be counterfeited, sold, affixed to dead plates or applied to plates for which they were not intended.

To help law enforcement to prepare for a provision that eliminates issuance of vehicle registration stickers by 2017, PennDOT says they are proposing a grant program utilizing the savings from the elimination of the registration stickers.

The grant program could provide grants to law enforcement officers for the purchase and maintenance of license plate readers, according to the news release.

Beginning Jan. 1 customers who renew online will be able save a copy of and print a permanent registration card on demand.

PennDOT says that future plans also include allowing customers to eventually upload their registration cards to their smart phones and eliminate the requirement to print a copy altogether.

They also say that further savings will be realized in reduced mailing costs. Currently, 40 percent of customers already renew vehicle registrations online. Eliminating the need to mail these customers a registration sticker coupled with the ability to print their registration card on demand will eliminate more than $2 million per year in mailing costs.

In addition, the elimination of the registration stickers will save $1 million a year in product costs, bringing the estimated first year savings to approximately $3.1 million.