Car Commuter Resources and Services Drive into DC

EXPLORE DC BY CAR

LEARN THE BASICS

Hail a Cab.

Hail a taxi, ride and pay with your smartphone by downloading the District’s official taxi app, DC Taxi. The app is available for download on both iOS and Android smartphones.
Share the Road.

Always signal your intentions and yield to pedestrians and cyclists, especially when making a turn or opening your door. Remember to keep a 3 foot distance between your car and cyclists.
Find Parking.

Your two best bets for parking in DC are parking garages and metered street parking. Check parking availability ahead of your trip to avoid circling the block and wasting fuel.
Share a Ride.

Get the convenience of a car and skip the costs of maintenance by using carshare or rideshare.
Car Storage.

Do you have extra space for parking like a driveway or empty garage? List your parking space for rent and you could get paid!
EV Charging.

Need to find an EV charging station near you? PlugShare is a website and app that maps available public charging options for Electric Vehicles across the nation. Download the app APP STORE | PLAY STORE

Carsharing provides the independence of a car without the expenses of car ownership, like gas, monthly parking, and insurance. In the District, there are three companies that provide carsharing services in public space: Zipcar, Free2Move, and Lyft Rentals. These companies make fleets of vehicles available to be checked out and shared by the public, in the same way that libraries make books available to be shared by members. Cars are picked up at designated locations and then—depending on the carsharing service provider—returned to the same location or dropped off near a driver’s destination.

Point-to-point carsharing allows customers to pick up a vehicle at one location and drop it off at another. Using the point-to-point carsharing model, you can drive one way and leave the car at your destination for the next person.

Free2Move is currently operating a point-to-point carsharing service on-street in the District.

Reserved-space carsharing, also known as traditional or two-way, is a round-trip carsharing service. A reserved-space carsharing car is picked up from and dropped off in a space reserved for that car.

Zipcar is currently operating a reserved-space carsharing service both on-street and in private spaces in the District.

Peer-to-peer carsharing allows individuals (owner-members) to make their privately-owned vehicles available for sharing with other individuals (renter-members).

Getaround and Turo are currently operating peer-to-peer carsharing services in the District.

When commuters share a ride in the same general direction, they are ridesharing. Participants may either begin and end the trip together, or take detours to pick up or drop off a passenger along the way. Slugging, carpooling and vanpooling are all forms of ridesharing. Providers like Lyft Line and uberPOOL offer on-demand ridehailing services that allow you to share a car with others who are going the same way.

Slugging is an easy, informal way to carpool and take advantage of I-395/I-95 and I-66 HOV lanes between Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. Participants (“slugs”) wait in line at designated pick-up locations to catch a carpool to a drop-off point. Both parties benefit—passengers get a free ride and drivers gain access to high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. The DC metro area has over 30 slug line locations. Explore pick-up/drop-off locations and plan your commute on the goDCgo Transit Map.

Carpooling is when two or more people drive together (share the same vehicle) to get to work. Carpools usually consist of individuals who live near each other and are employees of the same company (or are employees of different companies located only a short distance apart) and have the same work hours. Sometimes, carpoolers use personal vehicles to take turns driving. Need help finding other carpoolers? The Commuter Connections Ridematching Service connects people interested in carpooling with each other for free. Some employers also help to organize carpools and provide incentives for carpooling.

Vanpools are similar to carpools but, instead of personal vehicles, they use full-size vans or minivans that are provided and organized by a third party company (like Enterprise Rideshare). Vanpools carry between 7-15 passengers, usually commuting to the same location from a distance farther than 15 miles. Vanpoolers normally pay their share of the cost with pre-tax commuter benefits. Learn more from Vanpool Alliance.

MAPS & TOOLS

Navigating traffic in the District can be challenging. Use these maps, apps, websites and tools to find parking and connections to area transit:

Maps
Apps & Tools
Helpful Links

DC Parking Zones Map PNG 582.031kb
Map of District HOV Lanes JPG 337.145kb

Preview

eRideShare

Available on: Android iOS

A free service for connecting commuters, cross country travelers and people running quick errands.
goDCgo Transit Map

Plan your trip ahead of time with goDCgo’s Transit Map – find parking lots near area transit.
Lyft

Available on: Android iOS

Share the ride with others going the same way, and pay up to 60% less via Lyft Line. Or, rent a car of your own from designated Lyft Rentals locations.
Free2Move

Available on: iOS Android

Free2Move is DC’s newest and one of the largest carsharing fleets. You can locate and book a car directly through the app, to get you where you want to go.
parkDC

Available on: Android iOS

Easily find on- and off-street parking in DC. Use filters to search for parking spaces by price per hour and/or time period.
Parking Panda

Available on: Android iOS

Quickly find and reserve parking in DC, particularly convenient when going to events or visiting.
Parkmobile

Available on: Android iOS

Pay for metered parking with the tap of a finger — get parking session expiration warnings and more.
Sluglines

Available on: Android iOS

Discover slugging locations near you and request a slug pick-up. Enjoy a forum where users discuss all things slugging.
Sameride

Available on: iOS Android

On-demand carpool for fast and low-cost commutes.
VIA

Available on: Android iOS

Ride 24 hours a day, 7 days a week anywhere in Washington, DC. Ride from just $2.95.
uberPOOL

Available on: Android iOS

Share your ride and split the cost of your trip with another Uber rider headed in the same direction.
Commuter Connections Carpool Now

Available on: Android iOS

Carpooling connection service for commuters traveling to or living in Washington, DC.

Commuter Connections
Create a profile in the regional ridematching database to find other carpoolers near you.
'POOL Rewards
Sign up to receive cash rewards for participating in a carpool.
Sluglines.com
Official pick-up and drop-off locations, etiquette, stories and information on how to start or join a slugline.
Distracted Driving Tools
Learn about common driver distractions, statistics, and prevention methods to stay focused on the road.

PARKING IN DC

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) provides a number of services, such as parking permits and a pay-by-phone parking to ease the challenge of finding a spot in the city.

METERED PARKING

There are 17,000 on-street metered spaces throughout the District of Columbia. Generally, the meters run from 7am-6:30pm Monday through Saturday; Although, in some areas where there is a high demand, they run until 10pm. Metered parking costs $2.30 an hour citywide and requires payment by coins, at the kiosk or by cell phone through Parkmobile. BROKEN PARKING METER? If you come across a broken parking meter, please notify DDOT by calling the Mayor’s Citywide Call Center at 311.

PARKING GARAGES

Parking garages in the District are privately owned and, therefore, not managed by DDOT. Most offer both daily and monthly parking. Find cheap and convenient parking with the following tools:

Parking Panda Select the space that works for you and view more details and photos. Pay for your space on the website or directly from your mobile phone.
Parkwhiz Find and book the best available parking at a discounted rate.
SpotHero Compare discounted parking rates and reserve guaranteed parking all over the city.

RESIDENTIAL PERMIT PARKING

The Residential Permit Parking (RPP) program ensures zoned on-street parking for residents living on designated blocks. Parking is limited to two hours during the hours of operation for vehicles without the appropriate zone RPP sticker.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) launched ParkDC Permits, a new, centralized system for DC residents in RPP Zones and their visitors to manage visitor, temporary, home health aide, and contractor parking permits through an online portal. Residents and their visitors can use the portal to set up ParkDC Permits accounts and to issue and receive permits to legally park in RPP zones.

VISITOR PARKING PASS

The Visitor Parking Pass (VPP) program allows guests of District residents to park for more than two hours on Residential Permit Parking or RPP-zoned blocks. Only certain Wards are eligible for the program and passes are only valid in the same RPP zone as the host’s residence.

Use the ParkDC Permits online portal to simplify requests for parking permits for visitors, contractors, and home health aides.

DISABILITY PARKING

DISABILITY PARKING The District has several programs intended to make parking more accessible to people with disabilities. These include reserved on-street parking, ADA accessible meters and spaces, and disability parking permits and tags. Learn more and download application forms at DDOT’s website.

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