The District has lifted a set of controversial evening time limits on parking meters and says it will be rolling out new pilot programs next month to find ways of making parking easier.
Parking, a perennially thorny issue in the busiest neighborhoods of the city, had grown even more challenging beginning in January, when the city implemented “premium demand zones” in eight areas such as Georgetown and Adams Morgan that extended meter times until 10:30 p.m.
Drivers not only had to pay for parking later into the evening, but they could not stay parked for more than two hours in the same spot. That translated into switching spots between dinner and a movie — or pushing into residential neighborhoods to park the car for an evening out.
The change angered drivers but also businesses such as restaurants and nightspots whose bottom lines rely on drivers having a spot to hold on to for several hours. Residents in neighboring areas also complained as their streets became clogged.
The city lifted the time limits Friday evening, though drivers still have to feed the meter until 10:30 p.m. in those zones. However, the city did not eliminate the Saturday parking fees and $2-per-hour rates it began in January to raise an estimated $7 million in new city revenue.
District officials are also trying to harness new technologies so drivers do not have to carry around heavy sacks of quarters or clog up streets circling for one of the city’s 17,000-odd metered spots. It plans to have several 90-day pilots started by July 19, including “pay-by-space” programs in which drivers enter the parking space number when they pay. Those spaces would have sensors that could tell if the spot was empty, which could help drivers find available spots.
Officials also plan a pilot in which drivers enter their license plate numbers so the city can tell who has paid. Finally, it will add a pay-by-phone feature, including a smart phone application, to 1,000 spots in Foggy Bottom, Georgetown and around Washington Nationals stadium.
The city already is trying out solar-powered meters that take either credit cards or coins. It also started a pay-by-phone pilot in April at 700 spaces around Dupont Circle, Union Station and downtown that city officials said had been used by more than 3,200 people.
