In addition to their performance target of covering every street once per day for over-limit parking, there will also be some 14 new staff devoted to ROSA, (Register Out-of-State Automobiles). This group could help ensure those who have recently moved into DC pay the nominal fee to change registration, plus it could perhaps also help to reduce town-gown tension with GU about off-campus student vehicles.

But the process for residents to notify authorities about persistent out-of-state (or abandoned) vehicles is not well publicized. Council has done much in regulatory streamlining e.g. increased fines for commercial vehicle and tour bus parking in front of residences from $20 to $500(!), disallowed out-of-state parking on our local streets over 24 hours, and increased the fines for rush-hour no-standing.

More troublesome is the reported lack of accountability between police and tow companies, with stories of unnecessary storage charges. Since MPD is reported to be developing a central database for all cars that have been towed, why not ensure that the ONLY way that towing could be initiated is using the mobile PC already in patrol cars to request towing from central dispatch. This will prevent cops from directly calling a towing company, and establish a date & time-stamped record of when the offending vehicle was collared.

If parking enforcement can have the latest mobile technology, why not the police for authorizing towing?

© Bob Andrew, Foxhall

P.S. Remember the new Georgetown shuttle buses will start Labor Day weekend, and connect three Metro stations every 10 minutes starting at 7 am.