John Townsend
Public Relations Manager, DC
O: (202) 481-6820 (ext. 4462108)
C: (202) 253-2171
jtownsend@aaamidatlantic.com
END OF AN ERA: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INSTALLS PARKING METERS ALONG NATIONAL MALL, SIGNALING SURCEASE OF FREE PARKING THERE
Installation of Multi-Space Pay Stations Slated To Begin May 1, Enforcement Starts in June
WASHINGTON, D. C. (Monday, May 1, 2017) ––“The best things in life are free,” or so the old tune goes. That will no longer be the case for tens of millions of tourists, day trippers, and holidaymakers parking along “America’s Front Yard,” the iconic National Mall, already renowned for a paucity of parking spaces, notes AAA Mid-Atlantic. Starting today, May 1, contractors for the National Park Service are slated to begin installing parking meters on streets and parking areas along the 1,000 acres of greenspace that is the National Mall. For motorists, the installation of the multi-space parking meters around the expanse signals the loss of 1,000 to 1,900 free parking spaces along the National Mall, including 400 free parking slots near museums on the Mall.
It also means persons with a disability placard or tag will have to pay at any parking spot with a meter, although there will still be designated disability parking on the National Mall, the National Park Service (NPS) explains. Curiously, the sea change occurs at the height of the peak spring-summer tourism season in the national capital area and in Washington, D.C. Soon the National Mall, where parking is infamously meager, will become famous for another iconic symbol: the “dreaded pink slip.” They will now have to pay to six dollars to park for up to three hours (It’s $2 per hour). After the three-hour limit, they are out of time. Next month parking rules will be enforced from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. daily, except on Christmas Day. It marks the end of an era for 21-25 million tourists, sightseers and vacationers flocking to the National Mall each year. That’s twice the number of annual visits reported for “large national parks such as Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon combined.”
The change comes as city leaders ponder and weigh the feasibility of building an underground parking structure beneath the National Mall. During public meetings in 2014, the National Park Service announced its plans to remove nearly 2,000 free parking spaces from the National Mall. Pretty soon, work crews will install 90 multi-space pay stations. Teeming with tourists, pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists, the National Mall is the habitat for the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Out-of-towners circle the idyllic venue in search of that proverbial “needle in a meadow,” a coveted parking place.
“Motorists and tourists are skeptical of the claim the implementation of parking meters on the National Mall makes parking more available for millions of visitors and tourists,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “The National Mall area is also noted for its traffic congestion and tour bus parking problems. To the chagrin of tourists and motorists, public parking was always rather insufficient and very challenging along the National Mall. Though there are other modes for getting there, the dearth of parking impacts the ability of visitors to fully appreciate the vistas and venues along the National Mall. Will it worsen with the surcease of free parking along the National Mall? It remains to be seen.”
The National Park Service used to boast, “There is no cost associated with visiting any of the sites within the National Mall.” Except now everyone will pay to park along Ohio Drive, Madison Drive, Jefferson Drive, Constitution Avenue, West Basin Drive, and along the Tidal Basin Lot and Lots, A, B, and C. For instance, Hains Point, or the 330-acre East Potomac Park, a chip shot from the Tidal Basin, contains several parking lots and 320 free parking spaces within walking distance of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. How many parking spaces are impacted? Of note, an earlier study showed a lower tally. It noted the “National Park Service provides approximately 1,000 free on-street public parking spaces in and around the Mall.” Enforcement of the new meters is slated to begin around June 12. Expired meter rules and violations will be ticketed and enforced by eagle-eyed parking enforcement officers deployed by the District Department of Public Works’ Parking Enforcement Management Administration. Meter mavens have plenty of practice. They have slapped 12.8 million parking tickets on windshields across town since Fiscal Year 2010, setting motorists back $585.6 million.
What about parking for disabled tourists and persons? Consistent with the rules for parking meters in the City’s Central Business District (CBD), disabled persons will have to pay at metered spaces on the National Mall. Before the recent changes, handicapped parking was designated “along West Basin Drive at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and along southbound Ohio Drive.” If it is any consolation to motorists, the hourly metered parking rate along the National Mall will be a little cheaper than parking in other areas in downtown Washington, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. In June 2016, the Council imposed a rate increase at all parking meters in the District, as the rate for on-street parking increased to 50 cents for every 13 minutes. The hourly rate for all parking meters in the District increased to $2.30 per hour from $2 per hour in the central business district, a 15 percent uptick, and from 75 cents an hour to $2.30 hourly in the District’s so-called “normal demand parking zones.” Motorists have shelled out $585.6 million in parking ticket fines since FY 2010.
It is estimated “440,000 vehicles travel through the National Mall on an average workday.” Each year nearly one third of all visitors and tourists descending upon the National Mall area “arrive via tour bus,” the National Park Service (NPS) notes. As a result, “this can total as many as 1,200 buses a day operating in and around the National Mall during the spring-summer peak season.” The motorcoach industry is hampered by the lack of centralized parking, according to a major 2014 study by MWCOG.
“The metered parking will be implemented on Constitution Avenue NW between 15th Street NW and 22nd Street NW; Independence Avenue SW between 15th Street and Maine Avenue; Jefferson Drive SW; Madison Drive NW; Ohio Drive SW between 23rd Street SW and Inlet Bridge; Parkway Drive NW; and West Basin Drive SW,” the National Park Service (NPS) recently announced. In addition, motorists will also have to pay to park in parking lots on the National Mall. Metered parking will be placed along “the Tidal Basin (off of Maine Avenue SW); on Buckeye Drive SW (next to the tennis courts in East Potomac Park); and Lots A, B and C on Ohio Drive SW in East Potomac Park.” Payment can also be made via the Parkmobile app or website.
On April 7, District Council Chair Phil Mendelson held a public roundtable on whether to move forward with a feasibility study (PR22-190) on building an underground parking structure under the National Mall. If built, it would also serve as a retention structure to reduce or prevent flooding in the District’s Federal Triangle area. Not too long ago, the District was named one of the “worst cities for parking your car” in the USA. Now, the National Park Service says its plan to eliminate 1,900 free parking spaces on the National Mall will empower the service to “manage public parking turnover” on the Mall, “allowing more visitors access to park sites.” It also said the move would encourage the use of transit and other transportation alternatives. The National Park Service also pledged to “use parking revenue to improve and make more affordable visitor transportation-related activities inside the park.” Visitors are encouraged to hop aboard the DC Circulator, a dollar ride to the Mall.
The National Mall is “a pilgrimage site for many Americans, as well as international visitors.” Parking is at a premium. Waxing eloquently, the NPS says: “The National Mall - the great swath of green in the middle of our capital city and stretching from the foot of the United States Capitol to the Potomac River - is the premiere civic and symbolic space in our nation.” In fact, more than 56 million visitors ventured to national parks in the National Capital Region in 2015, contributing “almost $1.6 billion to the region’s economy.”
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Ragina C. Ali
Public Relations Manager, MD
O: (410) 616-1900 (ext. 4361152)
C: (443) 465-5020
RAli@aaamidatlantic.com