Not so fast there, DDOT. Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser wants to pull the plug on the red top meter program that eliminates free parking for disabled drivers and lets parking enforcement officers ticket drivers who don’t move their cars. Mike DeBonis reports in the Post:

“Nobody really quite understands how this came to be or why the mayor decided to move on it now,” Bowser said in an interview. “We really need to take a pause and make sure there’s enough reserved parking. … This amounts to a very serious policy change, and we have to have a public hearing.”

Bowser added that she’s heard from constituents — particularly senior citizens — who “see it as an additional fee on disabled and senior people and they don’t understand why it’s being unloaded on them at this time without a public debate.”

During the roll out of the first 400 meters, DDOT said the new policy would help fight fraud from people who have come by disability placards illegally. Last week, they announced they’d be installing another 1,100 meters, designating 9 percent of the city’s parking spaces for the handicapped. At the time, DDOT spokeswoman Monica Hernandez told us it wasn’t about revenue, rather, “it’s about striking a balance and providing spaces for members of the community.”‘

Photo via DDOT