FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The D.C. Council gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that will allow BIDs and other groups to pay for targeted parking enforcement in their neighborhoods.
Introduced by Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau, D-Ward 1, Bill 26-16, the Strategic Parking Enforcement Enhancement Amendment Act of 2026, also authorizes campus police to issue parking tickets in certain narrowly defined zones on and immediately adjacent to their campuses.
“There’s an important role for BIDs, universities, and other groups to help support the parking enforcement that benefits their corridors with safer and less chaotic streets,” Nadeau said. “This is one small way to do more of the parking enforcement we already do, with a goal of changing behavior, making our busiest corridors safer for everyone – not to raise revenue.
“There’s also an element of fairness – nobody likes getting a parking ticket, but they really don’t like when they follow the rules and those who don’t get no consequences,” she added.
The bill sets up a framework for private parties to enter into agreements with the Department of Public Works. If DPW has enough parking enforcement officers who are available for additional shifts on top of a full week’s work and they’re willing to work some overtime, DPW can deploy those officers to an area where a private party has asked for parking enforcement help and agreed to help pay for the overtime. The officers will still be on the clock as DPW employees, answering to DPW leadership and enforcing the same parking laws as usual.
The bill could also lead to DPW parking enforcement increasing focus on getting vehicles involved in dangerous driving off the roads, something that Nadeau has been working on for several years.
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Bill 26-16, the Strategic Parking Enforcement Enhancement Amendment Act of 2026
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What does the bill do?
- It allows groups, such as a Business Improvement District (BID) or an event promoter, to enter into an agreement with the Department of Public Works to pay for a detail of parking enforcement officers to be deployed in a specific area. The private entity would pay for the “reimbursable detail,” reimbursing DPW for some or all of the overtime costs.
- It authorizes campus police to issue parking tickets in certain narrowly defined zones on and immediately adjacent to their campuses.
What problem does this solve?
When people repeatedly get away with unsafe and unlawful parking, it endangers pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers, makes neighborhoods less desirable, and erodes trust in government and feelings of mutual care and civic responsibility. Allowing for private-pay parking enforcement gives businesses and other organizations a way to contribute to additional parking enforcement and safer, less frenetic street activity – especially in some of the corridors, or during events, that most need it.
Is there a precedent or model for this?
Yes. This legislation is modeled in part on a program in which businesses can pay for D.C. police officers who would otherwise be off duty to be assigned to their places of business through an arrangement with the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. The officers operate and enforce the laws as they would on regular duty but are assigned to the specific location and paid for in part by the business.
Why would a BID or other group want to pay money for extra parking enforcement?
Some business or other groups may want better parking turnover and less congestion (consistent with the design of the traffic lanes and parking spaces) to make roads safer and corridors more appealing to customers, potential customers, and residents. Chaotic and unsafe parking may also interfere with commercial deliveries.
The arrangement also benefits the District, with the cost of the additional coverage paid by some of the same organizations whose profits have the unintended consequence of promoting traffic congestion and the risk of unlawful parking.
How much would it cost private entities?
Some portion – up to 100 percent – of the cost of paying the parking enforcement officers’ overtime pay. The bill gives the executive flexibility to set a subsidy percentage based on available resources, to help encourage organizations to participate. In the existing program that we modeled this bill on, the Metropolitan Police Department invoices the participating establishment for 35% of its officers’ overtime associated with the program and the Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Administration absorbs the rest.
Who could pay for a parking enforcement detail?
The list of possible entity types in the bill is broad and includes: a business or group of businesses, a promoter or organizer of a District-licensed special event, a Business Improvement District, a DC Main Streets Program, universities, and other entities designated by the Mayor. In theory, a neighborhood group, like a civic association, could be designated by the Mayor – but it would have to enter into an agreement with DPW and pay the cost like any other participating entity. The bill requires an agreement between DPW and the private entity before any actual patrols go out on detail. The bill also makes very clear that DPW calls the shots on enforcement decisions within the agreed-upon patrol area.
What if DPW is understaffed?
Even with a private-pay agreement in place, DPW may determine that it doesn’t have the capacity to make officers available at certain times. The bill and committee report make clear that in that case DPW can and should decline to send out officers. That should also be reiterated in negotiations and agreements with participating entities.
Is it a private parking enforcement team?
No. It is a deployment of regular public employees getting overtime pay to do the same work they regularly do, following and enforcing the law the same as always, reporting to government supervisors, just as they would on any other shift. But in this case, they would be assigned to a specific area. They would be paid by DPW, which would be reimbursed, at least in part, by a private party.
What parking laws will these privately reimbursed details enforce?
The same parking laws they enforce during any other shift, under the direction of DPW parking enforcement supervisors.
Is there a discrepancy in the fine drivers would pay when ticketed by a privately paid vs. regular-duty, solely DPW-paid parking enforcement officer?
No.
Will campus security officers be allowed to issue parking tickets?
Yes, under certain circumstances: if their school has gotten its security officers officially recognized by the District as campus police, the school opts into this program, the officer completes training, and there’s a violation of DC parking laws in certain locations (see below). The officer would then be able to issue the same citations under the parking law as DPW parking enforcement officers.
Where would campus security be able to do parking enforcement?
3 types of spaces:
- Private roads that they own (including roads open to the public), to the extent that D.C.’s parking laws apply there
- Spaces in the public roadway that are reserved for university-related parking
- Stretches of public road where the university owns the property on both sides – places that are effectively part of the campus. This definition addresses concerns that were raised by D.C. Police about sending campus police too far afield and creating confusion about what campus police can do vs. other kinds of security or law enforcement officers.
Could campus security enforce all the same parking rules as DPW parking enforcement officers?
Yes.
Why can’t the city just hire more parking enforcement officers?
We’d love to! And Councilmember Nadeau has consistently worked to increase resources for parking enforcement. However many officers there are, private pay would give officers an opportunity to earn overtime pay and give BIDs and other groups a way to bolster targeted enforcement.
Will this be equitable around the city?
Intense strain on parking and resulting unsafe and illegal parking are often associated with areas of robust business activity – areas that may also have a BID or other organization that wants to and has the resources to participate in a private-pay parking enforcement program.
The bill does not address a known concern – that parking ticket fines ignore the racial wealth gap and have a disproportionate impact on drivers who are Black or people of color. Councilmember Nadeau is also concerned about this, and there is an ongoing executive branch research initiative to help address it, as well as an as-yet-unfunded amnesty program, passed as part of the STEER Act, that should be funded. Further permanent legislation may be warranted, but this bill is not the appropriate vehicle for that effort.
Will this result in more parking tickets for residents?
If people are used to getting away with blocking roads or hogging spaces, they may get more tickets in the short run, until people realize they will have to change their behavior and comply with parking laws, which is the goal of the parking ticket system.
Nobody likes getting parking tickets. People really don’t like when they follow the rules and people who don’t follow the rules get no consequences.