Parking
Bring performance parking to Georgetown
Mathews writes the Georgetown neighborhood blog The Georgetown Metropolitan. This guest article was originally posted there.
If there's one thing residents and visitors alike complain most about Georgetown, it's parking. Residents can't reliably park close to their homes. Visitors circle blocks over and over looking for a spot to leave their car for a few hours as they eat or shop. It seems like a perpetual problem without a solution. But there is a solution for residential street parking near entertainment districts: performance parking.
The basic idea behind performance parking is that if you raise the cost of meter parking to a market rate, some people will who plan on parking for a long period will use a pay garage instead of searching for a cheap spot on the street, while others will switch to transit. That frees up on-street spaces for short-term parkers.
There is not a shortage of parking in the heart of Georgetown. Not by a long shot. It's just mostly located in pay garages. Look at how many pay garages there are in around M and Wisconsin:
That map may even be leaving out one or two. With the possible exception of the small outdoor lots, these garages are almost never full. And why should they be? As long as it only takes 5-10 minutes driving around our residential back streets to eventually find a free parking spot, why would somebody choose to fork over money for parking?
That's the central thrust of performance parking, a philosophy put forward most effectively by Donald Shoup in his book, The High Cost of Free Parking. So long as the city is giving away free or virtually free on-street parking, people will: A: keep driving around in circles looking for the free spot, and B: leave their car in the free spot for as long as possible. Doesn't that sound a lot like Georgetown on a Saturday?
Why not install parking meters throughout the neighborhood, and make people pay a lot more to sit their car in front of our houses for hours at an end? In particular, these would be multi-space meters like the ones we already have on M St. Residents would be exempt from the meters, plus they would get guest passes so that their visitors, including nannies and nurses, could stay longer without having to pay. We could even make some streets resident parking-only.
It's already being done in other parts of the city with success. The first place to try it was neighborhood around Nationals Park. Check out this map:
Image courtesy of JDLand.com.
Each colored street has different rules. For instance, on the purple streets, they allow only residents to park on one side of the street and limit the other side to two hour parking (residents exempt). The green streets prohibit all parking during game-time. The red streets have variable rates: ordinarily it's $1 for the first hour and $1.50 for the next two (three hour limit), but on gameday it's $2 for the first hour and $8 bucks for the next three. In other words, you can park there, but it's not much cheaper than using the stadium's garages. Each household is given one guest pass that acts as a resident pass. There haven't been many reports of abuse of the visitor pass. Although maybe that's because the Nats are just so bad.
It's awfully complicated around Nationals Park because of the huge differences between days with or without events at the park. Georgetown's system could be a lot simpler. How's this?:
Here's what the colors mean:
- Red: Variable meters, residents exempt (except for Wisconsin and M). Weekdays: $1 first hour, $2 second hour. Weekends: $2 first hour, $5 second hour. Max 2 hours for non-residents at all times. Those rates are still well below the garage rates, but it should discourage a good number of parking trollers.
- Blue: One side of the street: residents only. Other side of the street 2 hour maximum parking for non-residents. If the street only has parking on one side then those will be resident parking only (maybe this should be only the case for weekends?)
- Green: 2 hour limit, residents exempt (i.e. what it is now. These areas don't have as severe of a parking problem as the other areas. Obviously if these got a lot worse with the new parking regulations, they could be re-evaluated.)
This is just a brainstorming map. It may not make perfect sense. It's just an example of what we could do if we applied the performance parking concept to Georgetown.
As long as we give away free parking on our residential streets, people will endlessly drive around our blocks looking for it. This causes traffic and pollution and is dangerous since the drivers are often concentrating more on finding parking rather than looking out for pedestrians.
This is an idea that's working in other parts of our city, but there may not be a neighborhood better suited for and more in need of performance parking than Georgetown.
 | Topher Mathews has lived in the DC area since 1999. He created the Georgetown Metropolitan in 2008 to report on news and events for the neighborhood and to advocate for changes that will enhance its urban form and function. A native of Wilton, CT, he lives with his wife and new daughter in Georgetown.   |
Comments
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However, I despise neighborhoods where parking restrictions change around every corner. As a visitor it is maddening because if you're not very well aware of the specific regulations, you go insane from having to read the ever complex signs on every corner.
Alexandria has different time restrictions on virtually every downtown street. It's insane. On one street you can park, but only for 2 hours, while around the corner only after 6pm, and in the next street is only before 9 am and after 7pm, but not at night. And then there's the HOV lanes. And the snow routes. AAAAHHH!
So, parking restrictions are fine. But KISS please. Keep It Simple Stupid!
And the same goes for the forest of confusing signs that authorities like to plant. I've had fines on places where I truly thought I was ok, after studying the signs for a couple of minutes.
by Jasper on Mar 18, 2009 1:20 pm • link • report
Why can't Georgetown residents pay garage fees or sell their car and join ZipCar?
What you described isn't even performance parking as it's non-variable.
GGW, why post without comment a guest article that seems to me to be obviously against your goals?
by frequent reader on Mar 18, 2009 1:35 pm • link • report
by Bianchi on Mar 18, 2009 1:39 pm • link • report
Arguably you could make the entire area metered parking and make it applicable to everyone. But almost no wholly residential streets in DC have meters like that. It would be an extremely radical move, and it would be pointless to suggest it since there's no way it would be adopted.
I'd be willing to consider scaling back the residents' protections (i.e. the residents only parking). But I don't think they're so out of line with what the residents around Nationals Park receive. And for what it's worth, I live on a "green" street to which I don't recommend any additional protections for residents.
I think that the buses to and from Georgetown are pretty reliable and I use them every day. We've got the circulator, the 30 series, the D series, and the Blue Bus. Plus, the walk from Foggy Bottom, Rosslyn and Dupont is not that far, I do it all the time. Moreover, the Georgetown transportation study from last year suggested putting in transit ROWs on M and Wisconsin. I strongly support that.
Oh and it's a myth about the Metro stop. And even if it were not, why should the current residents be damned for the actions of people nearly forty years ago?
by Georgetown Metropolitan on Mar 18, 2009 2:22 pm • link • report
by Bianchi on Mar 18, 2009 2:42 pm • link • report
You are dead wrong about reliable transit in G'town. The Georgetown Metro Connection makes a 10 minute loop from Dupont Circle to Rosslyn via M Street and back again. It's rarely late, costs a $1 (or just get the pass, as I did,) and gets you from A-to-B in no time at all. The only time we have the late bus/bunch up bus effect is on Friday or Saturday evenings, when the roads are filled with cars on M Street.
I use the "Blue Bus" every day to commute to work (in Arlington) from home (in Georgetown) and back again. Sometimes I take the 38B bus because it pulls up first, and sometimes I take the Circulator to the supermarkets on upper Wisconsin. Rarely, if ever, do I encounter a problem.
The "Blue Bus" also has the right idea here, in that it basically has a limited travel area and funnels people to the Metro. All bus lines should do this, should make Metro the backbone and the buses be supplemental.
Having said that, there is a perception from the outside-of-Georgetown reality that Georgetown is not transit friendly or accessible, which results in more cars than bus peeps.
I also think that taking the on-street parking off of M Street is a MUST, to make those dedicated bus lanes or streetcars. In fact, we should just lay down a streetcar that runs the entire spine of M through the city.
Regarding the myth of "Georgetown not want a Metro stop," aside from that not being true then, does it really matter now? We want one today, we should have one today, and we should stop punishing the peeps of today.
by Aaron on Mar 18, 2009 3:15 pm • link • report
One modification I would include to this plan would be to make sure the resident exemption only applies to the actual neighborhood - possibly people living inside the boundaries of ANC 2E. It'd be great for me, living in Dupont, to be able to drive over and get to park on one side of many streets while others can't, but it's not fair to people who live in Adams Morgan, Glover Park, Brookland or Capitol Hill. We should make "resident" really mean resident, not "resident of one of several neighborhoods that by political chance happen to be in the same ward."
by David Alpert on Mar 18, 2009 3:19 pm • link • report
Georgetown residents recently made the GUTS buses change their routes, because they were "too loud". Georgetown residents slowed and stopped the reconstruction of M street until pot holes were flying 50 yards into the air, and even then arm-wrestled the city into only working only at night, expanding the project unnecessarily long, and exploding the cost of the project.
Time and time again, Georgetown residents ignore the fact that there is a major university in their neighborhood, and that their neighborhood is a tourist attraction. Time and time again, Georgetown residents use their congressional residents to keep their life easy, while ignoring the life of everybody passing through their neighborhood. Time and time again Georgetown residents cling on to the absurd notiont that their neighborhood is "more special" that other neighborhoods in DC. And worse, that their neighborhood is a cute little town, of which the character needs to be preserved at all cost.
Well, if you want to live in a cute little town, go live in Winchester, VA. It's cute, it's quaint, and nothing will ever change there. It's even got a country club and a cool radio station for the kids. If not, please join the rest of the city in being the capital of the free world. And deal with the inconveniences that come with the pride.
Oh, and please prove me wrong on the metrostop issue. I don't believe Georgetown residents (*) want a metrostop. If there's one single neighborhood that can get one within a few years, than it's Georgetown. They have the clout in the city to get it done in no time. But only if they really want it.
[(*) Georgetown residents, read: the ones that get their way, I am sure there are some sensible folks too.].
by Jasper on Mar 18, 2009 3:37 pm • link • report
I completely disagree that all busses should go to metro stops. There are too many places in the city not served by metro.
So far all commenters agree on bus ROW on M & Wisc and eventually streetcars, as well as the performace parking concept if not the details for this location.
by Bianchi on Mar 18, 2009 3:39 pm • link • report
2) I like the idea of one-side residents only. I think it should be applied in a lot of parts of the city, whether or not there's performance parking. And it should apply 24/7, since in much of DC there are no limits other than from 7a to 8:30p. It's used in other cities-why not DC?
3) An interesting article would relate to residential parking reforms--not how many spaces, but rather reforms to the current Ward by Ward system that makes little sense--RPPs really should apply only to your neighborhood (however defined--not sure ANCs are the best boundaries) but should give "more" rights in the sense of having exclusive parking for residents only.
by ah on Mar 18, 2009 3:40 pm • link • report
Sorry, thought faster than my fingers could type.
by Jasper on Mar 18, 2009 3:40 pm • link • report
by David Alpert on Mar 18, 2009 3:42 pm • link • report
by David Alpert on Mar 18, 2009 3:44 pm • link • report
I would call Georgetown University quite a job center, especially as virtually none of the employees live in Georgetown. Most of the do live in red, orange or blue suburbia. Anyway, I am getting off-topic.
by Jasper on Mar 18, 2009 4:09 pm • link • report
This plan is a nice exercise in doing it better under current political circumstances. Bravo for being practical. While not perfect, it's better. As we all know that it's not a good idea to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
As for transit to Georgetown, I find it really frustrating trying to get there without driving. The only convenient place way to Georgetown via transit I've found is walking from Rosslyn or Foggy Bottom. I live on the upper eastern Red Line. To get to Georgetown, I take the Red Line to Farragut North, wait 10 minutes (if I'm lucky) for a Circulator, then wait another 25 minutes or so for the bus to stop every block and and for every traffic light to get to Wisconsin and M. And this is on a weekend!
If any kind of performance parking, even one that is modified to placate existing Georgetowners, can take some cars off the street that are searching for underpriced parking so that the Circulator can take say, 10 minutes rather than 25 to get from Farragut Square, I'm all for it. I personally avoid Georgetown for the most part because I can't get there without driving. That means it's a total non-starter for nightlife.
There are a lot of nice amenities in Georgetown that I'd love to spend money on. If performance parking helps others like me who want to spend money to get there without the traffic that makes both the transit experience lousy then go for it.
by Cavan on Mar 18, 2009 4:13 pm • link • report
part of the reason that Georgetown is a tourist attraction is that it's preserved...is that it hasn't been eaten up by the city of DC. I firmly agree that the "cute little town" character should be preserved at all costs...it's what makes G'Town special and a tourist attraction. Just the very fact that there's no 70s stark-i-tecture makes it awesome. And there is some historic reality to the separation that irks you so. Georgetown predates DC, and was a separate place from DC even after the District came to be. So while I'm sure some of that separation involves wealth wanting to remain enclaved, there is a degree of truth behind the economic apartheid. (Also left out of the history is that G'town was at one point an African-American ghetto as well.)
I also think it's funny that you think at Metro Stop is a mere few years away due to the political clout of Georgetown. It's taken them what? 30 years to finally begin to build the damned thing to Dulles!
Finally, I think that your post, while funny, has more to do with your dislike of Georgetown and less to do with finding a productive solution to join up the neighborhood with the capital of the free world.
I think G'town has become somewhat emblematic of NW DC's non-Metro 'hoods, which is kind of funny, because Georgetown is much, MUCH more transit friendly than places like the Palisades, parts of Tenley and everywhere around the Cathedral. Nonetheless, it's certainly a symbol of socio-economic and racial separation in DC. And as the 1st "gentrified" 'hood, it both reflects upon and defines the debate regarding gentrification in the District, from the wealth and the "specialness" the rediscovery and rehabilitation of a historic 'hood can have...to the folks displaced and disjointed by the wave.
Having said that, I love living there. Shops make me happy!
by Aaron on Mar 18, 2009 4:33 pm • link • report
On topic: While I love to bitch about Georgetown residents more than anything, for much the same reasons as Jasper, I do think this would be a win-win for everyone.
by Meredith on Mar 18, 2009 5:08 pm • link • report
by Meredith on Mar 18, 2009 5:11 pm • link • report
by Joey on Mar 18, 2009 5:20 pm • link • report
by monkeyrotica on Mar 19, 2009 7:35 am • link • report
The problem is that the neighborhood time and time again ignores the fact that only a few of the interest holders of Georgetown live there and have a political vote. Georgetowners like to point out that they existed before DC did. In that light their treatment of the interests of the university is even more hypocritical, because the university has been there equally long, if not longer. And they forget that their little town lost the battle for being the harbor on the Potomac from Alexandria.
And there is the link to a better model. While protecting a couple of block downtown and being protective of their downtown, Alexandrians have at least welcomed the 1900s and that makes their downtown are a lot more vibrant than Georgetown.
On the metro, I believe that Georgetown has enormous (too much) political clout in DC. DC goes as Georgetown wants, because that's where all the campaign dollars come from. The Silver line has no benefits for Georgetown, and has they've never pushed it. Result: 20 years of misery. I seriously believe that if Georgetown had really wanted it's metro stop, I would have had it. And if it decided now that it wants one, it'll get one. Unfortunately, the Georgetown powerholders are too car dependent, and look too much down on public transit to get anything going. Look at the other comments here. Despite there being a lot of transit, nobody who doesn't live there understands how it works! So there's dysfunctional transit, which is the same as nothing.
Let me finish by reiterating that I like Georgetown, and like hanging out there. But I loathe the attitude of many (not all) residents. They say one thing, but do another. Very hypocritical.
by Jasper on Mar 19, 2009 9:30 am • link • report
Regarding the other people who don't live in the 'hood not understanding how the transit options work...uh, this doesn't speak highly of their intellectual prowess. Get real: it's essentially 3 bus lines. There are little signs on poles that indicate the line/bus service where riders are supposed to "stand" to either board or disembark the bus. Since the day I moved here, I figured out EASILY which bus I needed to take to get out and get in G'Town. This has nothing to do with my Khan-like "superior intellect," but the simplicity of Georgetown's transit options:
1. The "Blue Bus" or the Georgetown Metro Connection. This runs down M from Rosslyn to Dupont and back.
2. 38B. This also runs down M, tracing the route of the Orange line in Arlington, and diverting from the Blue Bus to go to Foggy Bottom instead of Dupont.
3. This runs down Wisconsin to M, and from M to Union Station.
Now I understand that there are other buses that perform their long, windy trips that also stop in G'town, but I avoid them since they confuse me as well (and not just in Georgetown: it's why I think every bus route here should be a looped spike that runs to and from, or between two Metro Stations, in effect mimic-ing the Georgetown Metro Connection.)
Do I think that the edges of M need to be bus only (or better, streetcar) lanes? Of course, especially with three bus lines essentially tracing nearly the exact same route through Georgetown. But if it's really that confusing, perhaps one should board the bus at all.
I'm sorry, but this just totally ups my dander. I moved to Georgetown from Metro Atlanta, where getting in a car and driving around were confusing and "transit" was this useless train that nobody used. Getting to and from the Target, in a car, in my neighborhood was always an arduous task. Getting in and out of G'town, by comparison, is insanely easy.
However, if it's so darned complicated for an outsider, why don't we simplify the choice? For example, "the only way to get to Georgetown is on the Georgetown Metro Connection." Then everybody would go to Dupont of Rosslyn to get in or out. Or we could keep 38B, and you'd go to F-Bottom or Rosslyn...oh, this is insane! If one goes to any of the three closest Metro stations (Rosslyn, Dupont, F-Bottom,) you'll find a bus that will take you to Georgetown...and down M Street, no less! I hope I've helped with the "confusion."
OK, I have to move on from the "I'm so confused with Georgetown's buses" moment before my head explodes.
Well, one more: dysfunctional transit is not the same as nothing. No transit is the same as nothing. When you get on transit in G'town, people are using it. They may not like it, and perhaps there are people who don't "get it" (still amazing to me,) but there are plenty of people using it, dysfunctional or otherwise.
I also like Alexandria's downtown, but I don't really find it any more or less vibrant or alive than Georgetown's. I actually find the hoods to be very similar, with G'town having the benefit of a DC location and Alexandria having a degree of remove (a slight degree?)
Finally, it's a little funny that the positioning of G'town (at least in this comment section,) is that it's like Detroit: empty and devoid of people, of life. "If only they had a Metro, that wasteland wouldn't be so dead!" Considering the amount of people always walking around, from natives to toursits to retail therapy seekers to business execs and their minions, that's not really the case. Apparently, some folks have figured out how to navigate the confusing transportation options to get in and out of G'town, which has resulted in the 'hood being a huge tourist attraction, retail revenue generator, club-n-pub crawl spot, restaurant row, art and design center...God, what a hole! :)
by Aaron on Mar 19, 2009 11:11 am • link • report
The problem is gtown doesn't seen to be parking; it is traffic jams on M st. As someone who walks and/or rides down M street everyday, the problems I see are:
1. Bad signals
2. Too many buses at the same place
3. Pedestrians jaywalking outside of their alloted times
4. Double parking by delivery trucks
5. bad rush hour parking rules (should be moved to 3:30)
I don't see people cruising around for 5-10 for free or metered parking as a huge negative. Waste of gas, maybe, but not a negative. As the O.P said, most people find parking in 10 minutes. If they don't, they tend to taxi and use a paid lot.
by charlie on Mar 19, 2009 1:30 pm • link • report
Don't forget these future parking "meter" revenues should be kept in the neighborhoods that they are collected and used to improve your deficient public transportation system and actually help get employee and resident cars off the streets and into more appropriate long term parking garages and lots.
This concept allows us tourists, vistors, and CUSTOMERs to enjoy and spend money in what are now parking impacted areas by paying to park in what would be future available on-street parking places.
You could even use the on-street parking revenues to increase the supply of off-street parking spots or encourage / subsidize employees to park off-street.
by Martin on Mar 19, 2009 2:01 pm • link • report
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