Council Eyes Fix for Disabled Parking in City Garages

To avert delays in exiting city garages, the Berkeley City Council will consider at its April 2 meeting whether to offer electronic card keys to holders of disabled-person placards or license plates.

Under the current system, those with disabled-person placards or license plates are allowed to park for free and have to press a call button for assistance when exiting a city garage.

"After recording the name and DP (Disable Person) placard number, a parking garage operator enables the vehicle to exit the facility electronically via a remote command center located at Telegraph Channing Garage," says the staff report prepared for the council meeting.

"This process frequently causes traffic delays, especially during peak parking hours," says the report submitted by Public Works Director Andrew Clough.

The staff recommends that the council approve a program in which those with disabled-person placards and license plates could pay a fee of $15 to receive an electronic card key that would simplify exiting the three city garages.

Parking for those with disabled-person placards or license plates would remain free under the new system. The new program would be optional.

The staff report also noted that fraudulent use of disabled-person placards occurs at city garages and offered these examples:

• Center Street Garage: 6 different vehicles have given 5 different names when exiting the garage: using the same DP placard.
• Oxford Garage: placards are not always displayed in the parked vehicles of building residents inside the garage, but instead are used in vehicles parking on-street in metered spaces, until it’s time for the resident to exit the garage.
• Telegraph Channing Garage, a restaurant owner had a $150 monthly pass but relinquished the pass and started using his father’s placard to park daily, free of charge (his father is no longer active with the restaurant business). 

The staff report is attached to this article.

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