Mission Statement

The mission of Parking District Services is to:

• Support the role of public parking in commercial areas throughout the County, as parking management is an important tool for achieving public objectives of economic development and transportation management;
• Support the comprehensive development of the Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Wheaton central business districts and promote their economic growth and stability by supplying a sufficient number of parking spaces to accommodate that segment of the public demand, which is neither provided for by development nor served by alternative travel modes;
• Promote and complement a total transportation system through the careful balance of rates and parking supply to encourage the use of the most efficient and economical transportation modes available; and
• Develop and implement parking management strategies designed to maximize the usage of the available parking supply in order to enhance the economic development of specific central business districts.

Budget Overview

The total approved FY25 Operating Budget for the Parking Districts is $28,878,623, an increase of $1,613,646 or 5.92 percent from the FY24 Approved Budget of $27,264,977. Personnel Costs comprise 21.56 percent of the budget for 49 full-time position(s) and no part-time position(s), and a total of 48.73 FTEs. Total FTEs may include seasonal or temporary positions and may also reflect workforce charged to or from other departments or funds. Operating Expenses account for the remaining 78.44 percent of the FY25 budget.

In addition, this department's Capital Improvements Program (CIP) requires Current Revenue funding.

County Priority Outcomes

While this program area supports all eight of the County Result Areas, the following are emphasized:

• A Growing Economy
• Easier Commutes
• Effective, Sustainable Government

Program Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable), with multi-program measures displayed at the front of this section and program-specific measures shown with the relevant program. The FY24 estimates reflect funding based on the FY24 approved budget. The FY25 and FY26 figures are performance targets based on the FY25 approved budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY26.

Initiatives

• Improve Security Systems and public safety elements to address high-incident/high-crime threat areas in off-street parking. Add some additional cameras, network improvements to sustain the new cameras, additional fencing, and wayfinding painting to improve pedestrian safety.
• Implement new security guard services contract to enhance PLD off-street parking security and incident reporting.
• Install canopy solar panels on a parking facility roof to provide energy for low-voltage systems. The department is looking at opportunities to partner with Greenbank and/or other stakeholders to install solar canopies on garages in the PLDs that can provide discounted electricity to Low to Moderate Income (LMI) customers and the County. Community solar project has gone through the request for proposal (RFP) and is currently at the award stage. The PLD is evaluating garage 4, 5, and 7 to determine the first installation.
• Convert single space meter lots in Wheaton PLD to master meter pay and display or pay by plate operations. Wheaton Lots are converting legacy coin-only single space meters with master meters which allows pay and display (coin, cash or credit card) or pay-by-cell.
• Convert end of life single space meters in Transportation Management Districts (TMD) and PLDs to new and more capable single space meter systems. TMD off-street and PLD lots/on-street replace legacy smart meters with recently awarded single space smart meter contract.

Innovations and Productivity Improvements

• Pilot License Plate Reader (LPR) integration into select off-street Parking Pay by Plate facilities to better track payment records and offer automated payment reminder and/or enforcement.
• Completed parking ambassadors to off-street garages to patrol during peak hours providing payment support, service advertising, security enhancements, and community assistance.
• Digital permits for garage specific parking in the Parking Lot Districts.
• Expand cloud-based security cameras with integrated notification system.

Program Descriptions

  Parking Services General Administration

The General Administration program provides executive direction and support functions for parking programs that include human resources, information technology, fiscal/procurement services, and the redevelopment of real property to promote the economic growth and stability of associated urban districts. The program's responsibilities are for drafting and releasing Requests for Development Proposals;...

  Parking Operations

The Parking Operations program has overall responsibility for the management of County-owned garages and lots with over 20,000 parking spaces, which represent at least a fifty percent market share of available parking spaces. This program has overall responsibility for the collection and processing of all parking revenue, including revenue from...

  Parking Fixed Costs

The Parking Fixed Costs program primarily funds the debt service payments and the lease payments. ...

  Parking Enforcement

The Parking Enforcement program provides for the enforcement of parking laws within the Parking Lot Districts (PLDs) and Transportation Management Districts (TMDs) primarily to promote business activity, ensure public safety, and ensure the smooth flow of traffic. The program also conducts Residential Permit Parking (RPP) enforcement in all RPP zones...