(Washington, DC) More District residents will soon have an easier way to provide parking for their visitors. Beginning on Monday, July 19, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will mail each eligible household in Ward 5 a visitor parking permit (VPP) as part of a new pilot program. Similar pilots are already underway in 4 other city wards, and DDOT is also preparing to mail new visitor passes for the second year of the program in Ward 3.

The passes are intended to eliminate the inconvenience to residents caused by having to obtain a new visitor parking permit from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) each time a guest is expected. Instead, one visitor parking pass will be mailed to every household on a Residential Permit Parking (RPP) zoned block.

The permits will be valid for one year and will allow visitors to park for more than two hours on any RPP block within the boundaries of the resident’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC).

Conditions for Use of the Visitor Parking Pass

• Visitors should display the Visitor Parking Pass on the driver’s side of the dashboard. At the end of the visit, visitors should return the VPP to the resident.
• A VPP is not to be used as a substitute for a valid RPP sticker on a vehicle owned by a resident of the household.
• VPP does not provide an exemption from the Registration of Out-of-State Automobiles (ROSA) requirement to register a vehicle in the District of Columbia within 30 days of residency.
• Vehicles displaying an invalid pass will be subject to a RPP parking citation.
• Duplication or sale of the pass is strictly prohibited and violators are subject to a $300 fine.

Eligible residents, who do not receive their VPP in the mail, may request one by contacting Damon Harvey at (202) 671-2740 or by email at damon.harvey@dc.gov.  

The visitor parking passes have been very well received by residents and after next week’s launch in Ward 5, pilot programs will be in place in the following areas:

• All RPP blocks in Ward 1 ANC 1D (Mount Pleasant)
• All RPP blocks in Ward 3
• All RPP blocks in Ward 4
• All RPP blocks in Ward 5
• RPP blocks in the Ward 6 Ballpark District in portions of ANC’s 6B and 6D