When those fancy new multi-space meters were installed around the Southeast side of Capitol Hill, I assumed that they were about efficiency (fitting more parking spots on each block), aesthetics (2 big green machines in place of 20 ugly metal meters), and revenue (the city can increase rates more easily and reduce the frequency of our beloved “feeding the meter” practice). It turns out that they serve another purpose that benefits us even when we don’t need a parking spot.
The meters were installed as part of a Performance Based Parking Pilot Program, which aims to increase parking availability. While the intention was not to generate revenue (oh, come on, everything is about money!), it did just that. And now the residents in that area will benefit as more than $288K will go toward “non-automotive” improvements throughout the Southeast and Southwest neighborhoods that were part of the program.
As explained by Greater Greater Washington:
“So far, the program has brought in $1.4 million in revenue. Under the law, 60% goes to pay off the multispace meters, which cost about a million dollars in all ($7,150 each) and which are on track to be completely paid off by March. 20% goes to the DDOT general fund, and the remaining 20% is available for “non-automotive” improvements to the neighborhood. So far, that’s $288,809.34.”
So what constitutes a “non-automotive” improvement? Among the many items listed, we will see branded bike racks (they will say things like “Barracks Row” or “Capitol Hill”), a bike path, heritage trail maps, information kiosks, street map signs, and grants for the Capitol Hill Restoration Society and the Capitol Riverfront BID for improvement projects. JDLand has a much more complete list, as well as a link to a larger version of the map below which shows where each improvement is being placed.
The city will share more detailed information on DDOT’s web site next week, but to learn more about the improvements we will be seeing, and how they were decided upon, read Greater Greater Washington’s re-cap of the community meeting held on November 18th. Update: Greater Greater Washington published a second post this morning with more details about neighbors’ reactions at the meeting and an interesting analysis of the Performance Parking Pilot program.
