Photo by Populuxe on Flickr.

A new survey from DDOT suggests many DC residents are willing to support more expensive residential street parking if it makes finding a spot near their home easier.

Many agree that DC’s Resident Parking Permit (RPP) program isn’t meeting the city’s needs, and should be be updated. But conventional wisdom holds that most substantive changes, especially raising the price of a permit, would stall once voters got wind of them.

But maybe not.

DDOT’s Curbside Parking Management study polled residents about how they feel about curbside parking.

The study asked if residents would prefer to pay more for a parking spot near their house, or drive longer searching for a different spot. 63% of residents said that they would prefer paying a little more for the ability to park closer to their home, compared to only 14% who’d rather deal with a longer walk.

This data challenges the conventional wisdom that local politicians should avoid significant changes to RPP out of fear of voter backlash. People rarely like the prospect of a price increase, and fears over parking can stall even the most minor of projects, after all.

But the data says otherwise. Residents do recognize that supply and demand affects parking just like any other good.

On the other hand, survey results are just general. We don’t know how popular or unpopular any specific proposal would be. Some residents may change their mind when faced with an actual price hike. Or perhaps the minority opposing change might be so vocal that they overwhelm the majority.

Who knows.

But if this survey is accurate, there’s more support for higher prices on DC parking spots than many believed. Perhaps politicians and other decision-makers should be a little more willing to tip-toe into this issue.

Tagged: ddot, parking, rpp

Canaan Merchant was born and raised in Powhatan, Virginia and attended George Mason University where he studied English. He became interested in urban design and transportation issues when listening to a presentation by Jeff Speck while attending GMU. He lives in Reston.