Politics & Government

AAA Warns: DC to Hand Out 6,000 Parking Tickets a Day During Cherry Blossom Festival

It appears that the Festival is that office's busiest and most profitable period of the year, according to AAA.

Tourists and residents alike should be warned: If you're thinking about trying to park in DC for the 2014 National Cherry Blossom Festival, be warned.

AAA Mid-Atlantic notes that DC will hand out 6,000 parking tickets a day during the 24-day festival. That works out to 144,000-plus parking citations during the festival.

Free parking is limited. The District of Columbia’s Parking Enforcement Administration is about to hold its own celebration, marked by a veritable blizzard of pink parking tickets, AAA says. It appears that the Festival is that office’s busiest and most profitable period of the year. 

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During the 2013 National Cherry Blossom Festival, the city issued 155,636 parking tickets for the 26-day celebration, based on data derived from a FOIA request by the auto club. This year the Festival, which kicks off the tourist season each spring, is shorter by two days, and it runs for three weeks and four weekends (from Thursday, March 20 through Sunday, April 13).  U.S. Park Police and D.C. Traffic Control Officers (TCOs) are directing traffic around the site and TCOs are ticketing violators seven days a week.

“It’s outrageous that this is how the city government chooses to welcome its visitors to the nation’s capital during this festival, but the facts speak for themselves,” said Mahlon G. (Lon) Anderson, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Managing Director of Public and Government Affairs. 

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“We are issuing an urgent motorist alert: if you drive a vehicle to this city, know that an army of ticket writers is lying in wait for you, and make sure you pay strict attention to the parking rules, time on the meters, and rush hour restrictions. A moment of vigilance could help you keep a lot more of your hard-earned cash in your wallets and pocket books and away from the city’s greedy coffers.” 

Peak bloom is predicted to occur April 8-12, but TCOs are making their rounds at all times during the entire Festival. If you are planning to attend the National Cherry Blossom Festival, avoid driving in the city, if possible, advises the auto club. Finding parking around the Tidal Basin during the festival is very difficult.  

Last year, a tourist posted this SOS, “Hi there. We will be visiting the area on March 28th- peak for the Cherry Blossoms! We will arrive in the city at about 1:00 and hope to park near the Tidal Basin. I am prepared to pay, but looking at the maps I can’t seem to find a garage close by.”

It’s a constant lament. The District has earned a reputation for its aggressive ticketing during Cherry Blossom season, AAA points out. For example, two years ago, the Washingtonian reported: “And when does the city soak the tourists? That’s easy. Almost 68,000 tickets were issued between March 27 and April 10, 2011, during the National Cherry Blossom Festival.” In light of this, driving is not recommended, almost verboten, AAA Mid-Atlantic and the National Park Service forewarn.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival generates as much as $160 million annually in total economic impact. So expect clogged roads, packed Metro rail cars (during the Festival Metrorail ridership is up 53 percent on Saturdays, and 70 percent on Saturdays in nice weather), Metro buses and tour buses, and crammed sidewalks along the Tidal Basin, teeming with pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists. Hoof it. 

It’s a 20-minute walk from the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station to the Tidal Basin, but the Smithsonian Metro station is the closest. Metro ridership increases by more than 15 percent during Cherry Blossom season, the transit gurus say. “Weekend ridership can double to near-weekday levels if the weather is nice,” says Metro.

Shuttles run every 20 to 30 minutes between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the festival centered near the busiest part of Washington, the National Mall. “Drivers are likely to encounter congestion, delays, temporary closures, and temporary one-way streets related to Cherry Blossom Festival activities,” advises the National Park Service. “Little free or nearby paid parking is available. 

Free public parking is available on Ohio Drive SW, 14th Street, and Constitution Avenue. Garage parking is available north of the White House, however this is a 20 to 30 minute brisk walk to the Tidal Basin area.”

The trouble is, unlike most nearby jurisdictions, such as Bethesda, Wheaton and Silver Spring, Washington, D.C. does not own any municipal or public parking garages. Hains Point or East Potomac Park, a chip shot from the Tidal Basin, only has 320 free parking spaces. It’s limited on Ohio Drive SW. 

Motorists can use an app to reserve a parking spot, AAA suggests, with SpotHero.com orBestparking.com which provides a snapshot of the cheapest rates in parking garages. Calculated rates range from $7 to $50 a day. Metro operates parking facilities at 42 Metrorail stations and all of those stations offer daily or hourly parking.

In addition to writing tickets for expired meters and rush hour violations, the parking officers can also tow vehicles impeding the flow of traffic at rush hour or an emergency, they also boot and impound vehicles that have “two or more unsatisfied parking and/or photo enforcement tickets that are 60 days old.” 

So for a less stressful visit to the cherry blossoms, consider:

  • Taking a long walk along the Tidal Basin. Wear comfortable shoes and a windbreaker.
  • Biking it. (Capital Bikeshare has multiple stations near the Tidal Basin and Festival events).
  • Riding the Rails via Metro. The transit agency warns “Trains and stations are always more crowded during Cherry Blossom season. Visitors are encouraged to travel during non-rush hour times, if possible, and try to avoid traveling at the height of the afternoon peak period, from 4 to 6 p.m.”
  • Getting “On The Bus, Gus.” There are 52 bus stop routes within a half-mile of the Tidal Basin.
  • Hitching a ride on the shuttle with a number of stops between Hains Point and Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It’s $1 a person for each boarding and runs daily from 10 AM to 7 PM.
  • Looking for handicapped parking? It is designated “along West Basin Drive at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Additional handicapped parking is available along southbound Ohio Drive on the Washington Boundary Channel side of Hains Point, north of the intersection with Buckeye Drive.”


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