Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Starting May 1st the streets lining the National Mall will be receiving some new permanent fixtures – parking meters.
The much-maligned devices have, up until now, kept clear of the Mall area leaving it as one of the few areas in downtown D.C that could theoretically be parked in for free.
But it may have taken a small miracle to find a space.
“There are currently three hour time limits on the spaces, but folks tend to pull in and park for the day so one of things that the meters are going to help us do is create a little more frequent turnover on those limited spaces that are available,” says Mike Litterst of the National Park Service.
Litterst explains that the Park Service has been considering placing meters on the Mall for several years, not to hurt visitors, but to help with congestion.
“We’re providing revenue that will help us create affordable visitor transportation, and one of the things we hope this does is that it encourages more of our visitors to use mass transit and public transportation when they come to visit the National Mall,” he says.
It will remain to be seen, however, how many tourists would actually switch to using Metro instead of driving.
Parking is to be enforced 7AM to 8PM daily including weekends and holidays.
And with meter rates at $2.00 an hour, it would now seem to be a much more tempting proposition to leave the keys at home.
Enforcement of the meters is scheduled to begin on June 12th.
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