Picking your pocket: Parking meter fees rise

WASHINGTON - Money is something everyone is trying to hold onto right now, so why does it seem like local governments are trying to pick your pocket?

This week WTOP takes a look at some of the tricky ways drivers are falling victim to revenue generators around the region.

Part IV: Parking meter rate increase

WASHINGTON -- Your quarter doesn't go as far as it used to in the District. After the D.C. Council voted to raise parking meter fees in the city, drivers are now finding meters that read "seven and a half minutes per quarter." Twenty-five cents used to get you 15 minutes at a meter in the city.

Most of D.C.'s meters have doubled their rates, going from $1 per hour to $2 per hour.

But drivers are also finding an interesting situation -- sometimes it costs more to park on one block compared to the next.

"We couldn't just instantaneously raise all the rates," says John Lisle, spokesperson for DDOT. "Our vendor has to go through and change the rate on the single space meters and multi-space meters."

The city has more than 15,000 meters that need to be updated, a process that is expected to be completed by the end of April.

But in the mean time, some drivers are complaining that the rate they were charged one day, changed the next.

"What we are finding is people will call us and say, 'Hey I just parked on this particular street and the meter rate went up,'" says Lisle.

The increase in parking fees is expected to bring in around $6 million in additional revenue for D.C. It comes as the city looks for ways to balance its budget.

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