Drivers have up to 500 more parking spaces to choose from in the District after the D.C. Council stopped a new program that was supposed to crack down on the fraudulent use of handicapped parking permits, city officials said Wednesday.

The District Department of Transportation had installed up to 500 parking meters with red tops before legislators halted the plan on Tuesday. Spaces with those meters were to be reserved for disabled drivers and, for the same price as a regular meter, would provide twice as much time as typically allowed.