Sunday, January 22, 2006

WASHINGTONIANS who have noticed that prime parking spaces near the city's Metro stations have been even scarcer of late are not imagining things. Before Christmas, District officials announced they would make more street parking spaces available for the exclusive use of two car-sharing companies, Zipcar and Flexcar, with which the city now has contracts. Some of the spots -- all near Metro stations -- are already "owned" by Metro; some are "lent" to Metro by the D.C. Transportation Department. Metro then allows the companies to mark the spaces with special orange poles and street markings and puts them off limits to other cars. The companies, which charge a fee for membership and then a per-hour car rental, do not pay for using either these curbside spaces or spaces in Metro parking lots.

Asked about the proliferation of blocked parking spaces, a District transportation spokesman defended Metro's contracts with the two companies on the grounds that car-sharing services allow people who don't own a car to get access to one for occasional suburban or out-of-town forays. Over time, he said, car sharing encourages Metro use and cuts down on car ownership -- and therefore reduces the number of cars parked on the street in parking-lot-deprived neighborhoods such as Cleveland Park and Dupont Circle. Metro and the District say they are happy to give the two companies free parking in exchange for their services.

It's nice that Washington, like other cities -- including San Francisco, whose car-sharing company is a nonprofit -- is experimenting with this arrangement. Both Metro and the District frequently cite surveys showing high customer satisfaction with the two car-sharing companies. There seems to be less information on whether those who do not (or cannot) use their services are pleased to have growing numbers of them in the neighborhood. We hope that the District will, when considering whether to expand this program, make sure to take their views into account.