Photo by volcanojw

The Examiner reports that the District’s aging parking meters appear to be in desperate need of replacement. The city has received 105,000 complaints about broken parking meters so far in 2008, averaging out to approximately seven complaints for each of the 16,500 meters that exist in the city. Reporter Michael Neibauer crunches the numbers:

Parking meter-related grievances have soared steadily in recent years from 67,813 in 2006 to 94,049 in 2007 to the nearly 105,000 so far in 2008.

The long-term trend is even more shocking. In 1995, the city registered only 2,665 meter complaints, meaning the annual increase since then is more than 3,800 percent.

So, what gives? The meters in the city are all at least a decade old, and they probably need to be replaced. The District does have plans to install more computerized multispace meters, which would replace the old ones, but there’s no comprehensive plan to ditch all the old meters anytime soon. Maybe if Jim Graham manages to get that parking meter rate hike he’s looking for, we could use that money to replace all the old meters?