Congressional investigators have discovered that thousands of parking tickets incurred by Federal and city employees in government-owned vehicles in Washington, D.C. and New York City have gone unpaid. A report released today by Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.), Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, reveals that the lack of agency oversight and local government policies on enforcing parking violations have allowed government employees to disregard local parking laws without consequence.
Although Federal regulations and agency policies clearly state that parking fines assessed on illegally-parked U.S. Government vehicles are the responsibility of the employees, there are no consequences for failing to pay parking tickets. Records show that from January through December 2007, Federal employees in Washington, D.C. failed to pay 477 parking tickets valued at $63,150 that were issued to U.S. Government-tagged vehicles. Federal employees in New York City neglected to pay at least 669 parking tickets valued at $112,314 accumulated through December 9, 2007.
City employees in Washington, D.C. and New York City, as well as state employees in New York, also failed to pay for parking tickets (329 in D.C. and 2,562 in New York) they received while using municipal vehicles.
“Our report shows that the General Services Administration, which is tasked as the Federal property manager by Congress and should therefore set the gold standard for asset management, has failed to provide sufficient oversight and control of its own vehicles.” GSA could not even identify any of its own employees responsible for unpaid tickets. Because it lacks any sort of comprehensive procedures for tracking parking tickets or payment of fines for parking violations, GSA has enabled Federal employees who operate government-owned vehicles to simply ignore the law,” said Oberstar. “By turning a blind eye and failing to provide sufficient oversight, GSA has allowed illegal parking to compromise mobility, create unsafe conditions for pedestrians and other drivers, and obstruct emergency vehicles.”
According to the Texas Transportation Institute, traffic congestion continues to worsen in American cities, creating a $78 billion annual drain on the U.S. economy. Illegal parking contributes to this congestion by reducing capacity and impeding public transit and commercial deliveries.
“In cities like the District and New York City, where parking is a premium and traffic is a concern on everyone’s mind, no Federal employee should be flouting parking laws, and especially when the safety and welfare of the citizens are put at risk,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. “I will seek a hearing in the 111th Congress to ensure appropriate remedies are implemented and enforcement occurs.”
“In my district, which includes the Civic Center of Lower Manhattan, traffic congestion and parking are major problems,” noted Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.). “In Manhattan’s formidable density, parking and driving violations have a very real and adverse effect on others and on our quality of life in general. Obviously, Federal employees should not be allowed to abuse their parking privileges. They should also do their part to lessen congestion – and pollution – in Manhattan by opting for mass transit instead of driving whenever driving is not obligatory. While not all of New York City is convenient to public transportation, most of Manhattan is easily accessible – even at off-hours. We should all make reasonable sacrifices to help minimize the City’s perennial traffic and parking conundrum.”
The report issued by the T&I Committee makes several recommendations regarding actions to be taken by Federal agencies and local governments to address the problem, including encouraging the use of transit or other public transportation and ensuring that adequate off-street parking is available for employees at assigned duty stations.
View a copy of the report here.
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