Comments on Visitor parking passes won't go citywide, yet - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by 20002ist

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:11:32 EDT

Alas, the concepts "MPD" and "logging" -- at least, consistent logging that can be easily checked later -- are completely incompatible. If you ask for a visitor pass at 1D, they (are supposed to, but often don't) write it down in a big paper logbook. Good luck trying to use this Dickensian system of records to cross-check/prevetn abuse.

Comment by Moose

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:44:36 EDT

We have something similar down in ANC 6D in SW, near the baseball stadium. It's worked well except you generally have to contact the city each year to get your new pass - they don't seem to consistently mail them out to each household each year. The good news is that the guy in DDOT is very responsive, if you email him about it (if you call him, good luck, but he's great via email).

Comment by ah

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:48:31 EDT

In my proposed coupon book model, a frequent user would simply be asked to explain. A renter could provide rental receipts.

BTW, why shouldn't a car renter have to pay for parking like everyone else?

Comment by Jack

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:43:47 EDT

The visitor-pass system in Mount Pleasant, now in its third year, has been enormously popular. Every household gets one pass, whether they own a car or not. The principal use of the passes is for household help, contractors, and after-school day care personnel. Homeowners aren't willing to go to the police station every two weeks to fetch temporary passes for these daily users.

Abuse has been minimal, and there's been no flood of cars newly parked in the neighborhood, courtesy of visitor passes. The people using the visitor passes are those who would be here anyway.

The success of the program in Mount Pleasant led to its extension to the rest of Ward 1, and the consideration of making the program citywide.

Comment by Tom Coumaris

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 21:49:42 EDT

For those who rent a lot maybe also have an on-line service or even the present police station pass but with no immediate renewals for the same plate number.

Comment by Tom Coumaris

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 21:01:50 EDT

I like the idea of visitor pass coupon books and many cities do this.

There will have to be a provision for people (like me) who rent cars extremely often though.

Comment by ah

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:24:53 EDT

I would like to see the annual visitor passes replaced by books of daily passes, with scratch off dots or some sort of single-use feature.

Issue each household 10-15/year. Extra books of 10-15 can be obtained at the police station for free, but only with proof of ID and logging to counter abuse.

Daily passes would be much harder to abuse, especially at low rates (is anyone going to go to the police station daily to feed sales? Sure, but not too many, and address/ID logging could help combat that.). And it would avoid the problem of having a visitor leave with your pass accidentally.

Comment by 9th and G

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:13:49 EDT

I live one block off H Street NE and our block has tried for 2 years to get DDOT to make parking across the street from us (on the back side of a DC rec center) signed RPP. Right now, this side of the block (maybe 20 spaces) has no signage at all. So, go figure, MD commuters fill it up everyday.

DDOT simply refuses to sign it RPP (or some equivalent)despite our petitions, pushing from our ANC member, and prodding by our Councilman's staff. They won't lift a finger to make it easier for actual DC residents to park near their homes. I think there are a lot of places like this throughout the city that could help relieve some of the parking pressure, but good luck getting DDOT to act.

DDOT needs to think visitors passes through very carefully, it seems ripe for real abuse. +1 on the licensed contractor permit...seems like something worth exploring.

Comment by Brooke

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:57:47 EDT

Our household received a visitor parking pass a month or so ago, but we don't own a vehicle or park on our RPP street. I was wondering if we would get one even if we didn't own a car and was happy to see we did.

We don't use it a lot, or plan on it, but already it's been useful for two situations: out-of-town guests staying with us for a few days, and once for a Zipcar we were loading during RPP enforcement hours.

Ward-specific info on the rollout is here, I think: http://ddot.dc.gov/DC/DDOT/About+DDOT/News+Room/Public+Notices/Visitor+Parking+Pass+Program+Update

I recall getting a letter mailed to us in advance of the VPP pass saying we would be getting one and to contact DDOT if we didn't. There is a phone number to call in the link I provided.

Comment by Adam L

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:15:32 EDT

The whole guest permit thing seems like overkill. I never found it too terribly inconvenient to get a guest permit from the police station. Most complaints from people unhappy with the current system came from the fact that there are some people (contractors, electricians, plumbers, home health aids, etc.) whose jobs required them to drive and that those people were negatively affected by residential parking restrictions.

To me, it seems like a better a solution would be to simply issue citywide parking permits to those types of business that are already licensed in the District. Are you a licensed plumber in the District? Great. You get a parking permit for your company vehicles. Are you a licensed home health aid? Great. You get a parking permit, etc. That seems like a much easier solution than trying to mail out thousands of "visitor passes" which have a much higher potential for abuse.

Comment by Gavin

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:10:06 EDT

I live in Ward 1 and also haven't received the visitor parking pass. I wonder if it's because I don't have a car registered in D.C., and therefore don't have an RPP sticker.

Comment by 20002ist

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 13:59:15 EDT

It is scandalous that there's no annual cap on visitor parking passes for any individual vehicle. Not only does this policy intensify parking pressure in certain areas (especially near Metro), it also runs completely counter to the District's supposed goal of reducing the volume of vehicles coming into DC each day.

Comment by Sandy

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 13:16:11 EDT

My car-free family in Ward 3 never received one of those year-long visitor parking placards. I guess if you don't have a car registered with DDOT, it's up to you to call them and in order to get a placard. None of our visitors has a need for this, so it's not a concern for me, but I just thought it was interesting that have a D.C. driver's license isn't enough to get you a placard.

Comment by Devoe

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:59:20 EDT

If you have a DC Tagged vehicle you can use these visitor passes instead of obtaining an RPP. You will not get a ticket during RPP hours and there will be no ROSA enforcement overnight.

The program is wide open to abuse and the city has no way of preventing this.