The DC Council is finally moving forward on a proposal that would potentially increase the reliability of parking enforcement in neighborhoods like Georgetown. The bill, the Strategic Parking Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2026, would create a new reimbursable detail program for DPW ticket enforcement officers. This would allow organizations like Georgetown University and the Georgetown BID to pay for additional targeted ticket enforcement in designated areas. After years of fairly toothless enforcement since Covid, this could finally send the message that it’s not worth it to come and park all day on the residential streets.
How Would it Work?
Reimbursable details already exist for MPD officers. The way it works is that businesses, like a dance club, pay to have MPD officers come and work directly at the club’s location to provide extra targeted policing. It’s a win-win because the club gets added protection and the officers–who are working overtime when they participate–get extra money.
The idea with the new bill is to import this idea to parking enforcement. Since Covid there has been a steep drop in parking enforcement and (consequentially) a huge spike in people routinely ignoring the parking laws. My personal theory on this is that when the city completely stopped any parking enforcement during the early months of Covid, a lot of people who previously took transit decided that actually they liked driving better, so long as they weren’t getting ticketed. While enforcement was restored, it never reached the level it did previously, so the newly learned behavior stuck.
Wait, Why is Enforcement Still Down?
That’s somewhat of a million dollar question, but the main explanation I’ve heard is simply a question of manpower. We’ve learned that on most days there are only one or two ticketing agents working across all of Ward 2. (And none on Sundays). It would be impossible for a staff so small to ticket people often enough to actually dissuade them from parking all day here.
Think of it this way: if you park over the two-hour limit in Georgetown and you actually get a ticket, the fine is just $35. A monthly parking space in a garage in Georgetown probably costs around $250. Do the math: You’d have to be consistently getting 7-8 tickets a month before you’d start to question your approach.
DPW has a personnel shortage. It’s something we keep seeing across their operations, included trash and snow removal. So there are only two ticketing agents because that’s all there is, apparently.
So How Would it Work in Georgetown Specifically?
What would happen here would likely include Georgetown University and, possibly, the BID participating in the program. The idea would be that one or more ticket agents would be working only in Georgetown during certain hours. This could provide for the targeted and consistent enforcement that would make those scofflaws finally reconsider.
Of course there are a lot of questions and unknowns about this. The most obvious is, of course, if there aren’t enough agents to work the normal shifts, where would the new ones come from? The hope would be that the possibility of earning a lot of overtime could help DPW actually hire more officers (or get the existing ones to work more hours). This is obviously a big “if”.
Another question that came up at the ANC meeting the other night is whether this would benefit only parts of residential Georgetown. In other words, if Georgetown and the BID participate in the program, will that mean enforcement will only be directed at west Georgetown and the commercial areas? That’s possible. But as I pointed out at the meeting: the bill allows for organizations, such as citizen associations, to seek mayoral approval to participate. So CAG could possibly also participate in order to spread the enforcement around the whole neighborhood.
Another question is whether the next Mayor will embrace or even put this program into effect. Of the two “no” votes on the Council against this bill, one was from Janeese Lewis-George, the likely next mayor.
So there is lots to still flesh out, but I am hopeful that if this program is given a chance, it could dramatically improve the parking situation.
