Valid Anywhere but Next Door

Regular visitors to D.C. might prefer a long-term placard, which does. (For info, call 202-727-5000 or go to http://www.dmv.dc.gov .)

Of course, this is all a lot of rigmarole for something that works everywhere else in the country -- and in a lot of the world.

"It's bizarre. It's as if the District didn't give reciprocity to people with out-of-state driver's licenses," said Elaine Gardner of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Until 2001, D.C. did recognize out-of-state handicapped placards. Placard-bearing vehicles could park all day for free at meters. A survey revealed that nearly a third of metered parking spaces were being used for all-day parking by vehicles with handicapped placards.

The rules were tightened to clamp down on abuse.

"We all know that parking in the District of Columbia is at a premium," said the DMV's Janis Hazel.

A couple of things are in the works that might bring some changes: In 2001, a group of disability rights advocates sued the city. Their complaint isn't just that out-of-state placards aren't any good; it's that many parking meters are too high or are positioned in such a way that people in wheelchairs can't reach them.

That case may be resolved soon.

And the D.C. Council is considering a bill that would change the law, once again making reciprocity a two-way street.

It seems a no-brainer.

Doors Closing, Curtain Opening

As everyone knows, Randi Miller is the new voice of Metro (the subway system, not the newspaper section). Her voice is slowly being rolled out across the system.

The perks have already started. Thanks to her Metro fame, a company called Wurld Media hired Randi to record all the spoken parts of the online interface of a new product.