Maricruz MaGowan, an economist who lives in Bethesda and works downtown, considers the District's aggressive parking enforcement program a hidden commuter tax.
"This is their way of assessing a tax to drive through D.C.," MaGowan said this week as she paid a $50 ticket, which she got despite racing to move her car before rush hour. The citation indicates that she was four minutes late. "They target drivers from Maryland and Virginia. If they need the money, enact a tax on drivers who use the streets, but do it openly. This is ridiculous."
Sandra Aull, who lives in Columbia Heights, says the parking enforcers are just as ruthless on city dwellers.
"When you live around here, you get tired of the tickets," Aull said. "It makes it hard to have a car. Every little thing, they give us a ticket for."
Over the next year, hundreds of thousands of commuters and D.C. residents could experience similar frustrations as the city prepares for a major expansion in its parking enforcement.
The campaign, which comes as the city attempts to close an $800 million shortfall, will target night owls who swarm into neighborhoods on the weekends, residents who don't have parking permits for specific neighborhoods and anyone who lives on a street that is cleaned weekly by a street sweeper.
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