Vehicle registration plates of Trinidad and Tobago
Encyclopedia
Vehicle registration plate
Vehicle registration plate
A vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...

s in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

are based on the type of vehicle and letter of the alphabet.

Prefix

Each registration number begins with a letter designating type of vehicle.
Prefix Type
P Private Vehicle
D Automobile Dealership
R Rental Vehicle
H Hired Vehicle, bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

, taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

V Visitors
X Terrestrial vehicles e.g. Paver (vehicle)
Paver (vehicle)
A paver is an engineering vehicle used to lay asphalt on roadways. It is normally fed by a dump truck. A separate machine, a roller, is then used to press the hot asphalt mix, resulting a smooth, even surface...

, extra heavy cranes
T Transportation (Goods) Vehicles & Pickup Trucks


Plates for each type are issued in alphabetical order, with the letters I, Q, and V excluded so as to avoid conflict with 1, O and diplomatic including the military and coast guard initials. The Trinidad Regiment bears a registration mark starting with TTR, the Defence Force bears a registration mark starting with TTDF and the Coast Guard bears a registration mark starting with TTCG.

Sequence number

Registration numbers have been issued in a prefix of letter "series", followed by the assigned numbers from 1 - 9999. When the number 9999 has been issued, the Licensing Authority then starts a new lettering "series" beginning from 1.The first registered vehicles bore the registration mark P 1, P 2, P 3 etc. Depending on the classification of the vehicle, the leading letter would reflect its use. A goods vehicle would have been e.g. T 567. A hired vehicle (taxi) would have been H 1998.

Upon the issue of registration number P 9999, a new "series" was issued; That was PA. From a goods vehicle TA. It started at PA 1 and ended at PA 9999. At the end of the end of that series, a new "series" was issued being PB. And so it continued. Upon the issuance of Registration number PZ 9999, The "series" then added a third letter and began PAA, or TAA for a goods vehicle, and HAA for a taxi. The first registration number in that "series" being PAA 1, and the last PAA 9999. The following "series" followed suit; PAB; PAC; PAD etc. Upon the issuance of the last in the PAZ "series" the new "series" began as PBA' followed by PBB, PBC, PBD etc. At the end of the PBZ "series", the new "series" began PCA, followed by PCB, PCC, PCD etc. With the noted exception of PCG, as this would have caused two main concerns, the first being the similarity to the Coast Guards registration mark of TTCG when issued for a goods vehicle, and the second being the similarity to the previously issued PCC "series".

Appearance

The Motor Vehicle Act of Trinidad & Tobago specifies the use of either "white letters and numbers on a black surface" or alternatively, "the letters and numbers shall be black on a white surface." In both instances the regulations states that "every letter or figure shall be indelibly inscribed or so attached to such surface that it cannot readily be detached therefrom" .

Current

The current series (June 2011) is "CT" (PCT/TCT/RCT/HCT etc.).

There has been officially over 800,000 vehicles registered for use on the roads of Trinidad & Tobago.
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