DPW issues parking tickets to vehicles that violate the District’s parking regulations. The most common types of violations are expired meter, parking longer than allowed in a Residential Permit Parking neighborhood, morning and afternoon rush hour, and expired tags.
DPW does not ticket vehicles with a valid visitor’s pass or ROSA exemption.
Search for Ticket Image/TicPix
A picture is worth a thousand words, so the Department of Public Works is posting images of parking tickets and the violations that led to tickets being issued by DPW. Click the following link to view images of certain parking violations after receiving them.
How to Avoid a Parking Ticket
An Expired Meter
At a meter, the instructions on the meter indicate how much time one can park. If the meter is broken, a motorist may park up to the time indicated on the meter. Before leaving the vehicle, call (202) 541-6030 or 311 to report the broken meter. Please keep the confirmation number. Park at a meter only for the time shown on the meter. No feeding the meter, please.
Residential Permit Parking Violation
In residential neighborhoods, check the signage to determine how long one can park in the zone. Remember, parking anywhere in the entire zone is prohibited once the time allowed has passed. Residents may obtain a visitor’s pass for their visitors’ use when parking in an RPP zone; however, this pass is effective in preventing the motorist from receiving a ticket for an RPP violation, not a ROSA (Registration of Out-of-State Automobiles) violation.
ROSA (Registration of Out-of-State Automobiles) Violation
Like most states, the District requires motorists to register their vehicle(s) within 60 days of moving here and the Department of Public Works enforces this regulation. DPW’s ROSA enforcement process has three phases:
- Observation: The first sighting of an out-of-state vehicle parked on public space and the vehicle’s license plate number is entered into our system. Our ROSA crews work Sunday-Thursday, 10 pm-6 am. We do not enforce ROSA on Friday and Saturday nights because we anticipate an increased number of out-of-state family and friends visiting the District on weekends
- Warning: The first warning notice is issued15 days after the vehicle was first observed. The vehicle can continue to receive warning tickets on days 15 through 59. On the back of the notice is an explanation of why the warning was issued and instructions to be followed to receive an exemption if the motorist is not a District resident.
- Enforcement: On day 60 of the observation period, the vehicle is then eligible to receive a ticket for Failure to Secure DC Tags. After the sixty day observation period, A ROSA ticket may be issued every time the vehicle is sighted if no exemption from this regulation has been acquired. Once a vehicle receives a one-year exemption from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the exemption and its expiration date are entered into our database.
Note: A vehicle with a visitor’s pass is not exempt from ROSA enforcement.
