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I’m pleased to see that a vocal opposition to Mayor Anthony Williams’ current proposal to raise fees and place limits on residential parking permits has already cropped up, because it is a truly terrible plan. Not only will it create an additional financial strain on D.C. residents who already pay through the teeth to live in this city, but it will do little to nothing in terms of improving the congested street parking situation in many District neighborhoods.

The mayor’s proposal would limit the number of permits to three per household, and at the same time increase fees from the current $15 per year to a staggered system of $25 for the first permit, $50 for the second, and $100 for a third. Williams submitted this plan, he said, with an aim toward encouraging more residents to give up their cars and use public transportation, thus easing the current parking strain. While it’s easy enough to see that this plan, should it be enacted, would serve as a quick revenue boost for the District, I am hard-pressed to imagine how it will actually solve the parking problem — a problem that clearly could use a real solution. Are there really so many four or five car households in D.C. (with all their vehicles properly registered with the DMV, to boot) that putting a three car cap would actually spell fewer cars parked on the street? Would saving $50 or $100 per year actually be incentive enough for most District car owners to ditch their wheels in favor of WMATA? Is this really the best plan to improve parking and increase use of public transit we can come up with?