FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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DDOT Announces New Penn Quarter-Chinatown Parking Meter Rate Schedule
(Washington D.C.) - Beginning Tuesday, January 22, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will implement a new parking meter rate schedule in the Penn Quarter and Chinatown neighborhoods. This is the seventh parking meter rate adjustment as part of a project to improve parking availability through demand-based pricing.
The project area includes on-street parking spaces bounded by H Street NW, 3rd Street NW, E Street NW and 11th Street NW. The project, a pilot that has been adopted permanently since early 2018, aims to reduce the time needed to find parking, improve turnover of high-demand parking spaces, provide better parking information to motorists, and reduce congestion by adjusting prices based on observed demand for parking on a block-by-block basis.
Parking meter rates on individual block faces in this area will range from $1.00 to $6.50. As with the previous price adjustments, the rates on each block face will vary by time period: weekday morning, weekday midday, weekday evening, and Saturday.
The table below provides a summary of the number of block faces that will have quarterly demand-based meter rate adjustments.
| Parking Period | Weekday Morning (7-11AM) | Weekday Midday (11AM-4PM) | Weekday Evening (4-11PM) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1.00/hr | 9% | 0% | 9% | 8% |
| $1.50/hr | 9% | 0% | 5% | 5% |
| $2.00/hr | 9% | 3% | 3% | 5% |
| $2.30/hr | 30% | 19% | 10% | 25% |
| $2.75/hr | 14% | 11% | 17% | 22% |
| $3.25/hr | 12% | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| $4.00/hr | 6% | 11% | 13% | 13% |
| $4.75/hr | 1% | 14% | 11% | 3% |
| $5.50/hr | 6% | 13% | 6% | 2% |
| $6.00/hr | 4% | 11% | 9% | 3% |
| $6.50/hr | 0% | 8% | 1% | 0% |
Blocks identified for adjustments are shown in the figure below:
Blocks identified for parking meter rate adjustments
As a result of the sixth price increase in October 2018 and the time limit increases in September 2017, the pilot area has seen occupancy generally increase, though particularly in the eastern third of the study area where rates have been stable or declining. That same area had time limits increased on weekends and evenings and has seen some increase in length of stay during the evenings. The study area has reached equilibrium at 70% of blocks across all time periods, indicating that behavior is changing in response to the pilot.
The detailed parking adjustments will be available at parkdc.dc.gov. Travelers can also see pricing and real-time parking availability information using the parkDC or Voicepark mobile applications, available in the iTunes App Store for iOS and via Google Play for Android.
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The mission of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is to enhance the quality of life for District residents and visitors by ensuring that people, goods, and information move efficiently and safely with minimal adverse impact on residents and the environment.