Adams Morgan Follows High-Tech Parking Trend

Multi-Space Meters Can Take Credit Cards, Coins

The solar-powered meters can take credit or debit cards or U.S. coins (but no bills). (Photos By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)

Adams Morgan is the latest neighborhood in the District to receive high-tech parking meters that officials say will help ease congestion and make parking in one of the city's busiest communities more convenient.

The D.C. Department of Transportation installed 21 of the solar-powered, multi-space meters along 18th Street and Columbia Road NW in the first week of September. The meters replaced 168 single-space ones and allow patrons to purchase time with either a credit or debit card or U.S. coins (but no bills).

The new system also allows a few more cars to park on the street. One multi-space machine handles about 10 spaces, which amounts to a gain of one or two spaces per group, according to DDOT statistics.

The installation of the meters completed the second phase of a three-pronged pilot program aimed at simplifying parking in congested areas. Phase 1 was completed last year when 24 meters were installed along M Street in Georgetown. Next up will be K Street between 12th and 21st streets NW.

Transportation spokesman Erik Linden said the agency studied meters across the country, including New York, Portland, Ore., and Seattle, before making a choice. The multi-space meters reduce the appearance of clutter along the sidewalks, he said.

"It has helped in Georgetown," he said. "If you walk down the street, you see less congestion. It's easier to pay for and more accurate."

But some residents and business patrons say they don't see the benefits.

Abdul Jaffar, co-owner of Mumbai Chef's Kitchen on 18th Street, said the new meters are difficult to understand.

"People come to Adams Morgan to spend money on alcohol and food," he said. "How many drunks in Adams Morgan are going to pay attention to signs? Patrons have no idea what to do, especially after a few drinks."

Jaffar called the meters a money-making device and nicknamed them "parking ATMs." He and his partners said the new system takes money from their business. They also complained that they were not consulted beforehand.

The new meters are expected to generate about 20 to 25 percent more revenue for the city, according to DDOT figures. Alan Roth, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission chairman in Ward 1, said community leaders spent a lot of time with the transportation department on the issue months before the meters were installed.

"DDOT representatives came to ANC meetings with maps and diagrams," he said. "They consulted with us, answered questions and took our suggestions. We voted and were supportive of the meter project."

Jade Floyd, a Silver Spring resident who recently was munching on appetizers at Leftbank restaurant on 18th Street, said she doesn't like the idea of cars parking so close together because they can get "scratched and ruined."

She said she appreciates the convenience of being able to use a credit card to pay for parking. But things didn't go so well the first time she paid for parking at one of the new meters and tried to put a receipt generated by the machine on her dashboard.

"I parked, got the receipt and was putting the slip in my car when it fell into the crack of my dashboard," she said. "I had to buy a new one."

DDOT officials say one sure benefit of the solar-powered meters is that they give "real-time" feedback to alert the department to any problems. For example, when a neighborhood commissioner and business owner complained recently that the new meters were charging $1 per hour, double the rate of the old meters, the transportation department was able to correct the problem within hours, said Bryan Weaver, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 1.

The department is still evaluating the project and welcomes feedback, Linden said. DDOT is conducting an online survey at http://www.ddot.dc.gov .