Losing quarters, losing patience with parking
If you park in downtown Washington at least occasionally, then you probably experienced this particular frustration:
You pull into a space on the street or in one of the city’s lots. You put a quarter in the meter. Maybe you notice the time indicator is still all zeros, or maybe you don’t. You put in another quarter; still zeros.
Perhaps you give the meter a good slap, to no avail. Maybe you even put in another quarter, just to see what happens: nothing.
What next? Risk getting a $10 parking fine (much more if you do not immediately rush to the Parking Authority office to pay it) or move to another space. Problem is, the next meter you move to may very well have the same problem: an incredible thirst for quarters with no regard to recognition of your investment.
It’s easy to sympathize with local businesses when they gripe their customers must pay a dollar an hour to park, when those same customers can go elsewhere and park for free. How many of those customers will return after the aggravation of not being able to feed the meter?
It’s clear the city and authority are not going to offer free parking or reduce the rates or fines when Washington is so dependent on that income. But if they insist on maintaining the system, that system needs to work. The evidence is that it doesn’t.
Either fix the meters or get rid of them.