D.C. kills $700,000 parking program, asks what next

The District invested more than $700,000 and hundreds of man-hours creating a handicapped-parking program that it then abruptly canceled — leaving officials to bicker over why it went down and with few clues about what to do next.

The D.C. Council earlier this month voted down the red-top meter program, which would have forced disabled people to pay for parking at city meters but would also have reserved as many as 1,800 on-street spaces for them, marked with red-topped meters. The changes were part of an effort to crack down on the fraudulent use of handicapped placards by people who aren’t disabled but want to park for free in the District.