D.C.’s controversial red-top meter program is on hold for now, but it sparked a new debate in the Washington region: Should people with disabilities have to pay for parking?
Advocates for disabled people say parking can often be hard for the disabled. What if there are not enough designated spaces? What if there’s a bike tied to the meter, making it hard to get to? What if the disabled person has trouble with manual dexterity, making inserting coins difficult?
That’s part of why disabled people should not have to pay, says multiple sclerosis activist Maureen Normann.
“It’s not a matter of pity. It’s more a matter of requirement that people be able to access things effectively and the fact that [making people pay in D.C.] represents a new fee for disabled persons, who are mostly on a fixed income,” she said.
The red-top meter program would require disabled people to pay for parking that used to be free, and instead reserves special spaces for the handicapped. But public outcry put the brakes on the idea. The District Department of Transportation is now trying to revamp the program.
Arlington County is the only jurisdiction in the Washington region that requires disabled people to pay for parking. And people there don’t mind it, officials said.
“There is no rationale for free parking [for the disabled],” says Arlington County Treasurer Frank O’Leary, who also chairs the board of the Warren G. Stambaugh Memorial Foundation, which helps people with disabilities. “It’s not because these people are economically challenged. They have to pay gasoline for the car, they have to pay taxes for the car, they have to pay tolls when they drive on the interstate.”
O’Leary implemented Arlington’s handicapped parking program in 1998 after fraud became rampant, with many people who were not disabled obtaining handicapped placards and parking in the free spaces. In Crystal City, 45 percent of all the parking spaces were taken by vehicles with handicapped placards, when only 4 percent of the population is actually disabled, O’Leary said.
Arlington now makes the disabled pay but gives out special iPark devices that fit inside cars and allow people to pay for parking without touching a meter. Arlington also will reserve any space if a disabled person requests it.
David Burds, a quadriplegic who directs the nonprofit ENDependence Center Inc. to help the disabled community, said Arlington’s program can be confusing for newcomers, but that he doesn’t mind paying for parking.
“If a person has a car, they should be able to pay for parking,” he said.
