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Q&A
Council member questions DOT on parking permit system and abuse prevention
1:44:27
·
3 min
Council Member Selvena N. Brooks-Powers inquires about DOT's parking permit system, focusing on measures to prevent abuse and coordination with NYPD. Deputy Commissioner Joshua Benson provides detailed responses about the department's permit issuance and monitoring practices.
- DOT issues 30,000-40,000 active permits for citizens with disabilities and additional permits for agencies and nonprofits.
- The department employs strict vetting processes, uses holographic seals and serial numbers on placards, and shares permit data with NYPD monthly.
- DOT tracks misuse and can revoke permits under a three-strikes policy within an 18-month period.
- NYPD traffic enforcement agents have real-time access to a database of valid DOT permits for verification during enforcement.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:44:27
Thank you.
1:44:28
Parking permit abuse, I'm gonna do let me just run through all the questions real quick and you could just answer it and let me know what you need me to repeat.
1:44:36
The 2024 DOI report on parking permit abuse recommends a uniform process and parking permit system to curb abuse of the system.
1:44:45
Is this something DOT supports?
1:44:48
How many parking permits does DOT have issued annually and how many how many are active at any given time?
1:44:59
Does DOT internally track whether any of its parking permit holders have misused the permits?
1:45:05
Does DOT have any measures in place to prevent or reduce misuse from occurring?
1:45:11
And does DOT coordinate with NYPD in any way with respect to enforcement to ensure proper parking permit use?
Joshua Benson
1:45:20
Okay, these are excellent questions, Chair, and if I miss one of them in my response, if you could remind me because there are a lot of them, but I'll do my best.
1:45:32
Yeah, we issue permits.
1:45:34
Most of the permits that we issue are for citizens with disabilities, parking permits for people with disabilities, about 30,000 to 40,000 permits active at any given time in that group.
1:45:50
It varies.
1:45:51
It fluctuates.
1:45:51
It depends how many people apply and whether they qualify and so forth.
1:45:56
So that changes over time, but that's the biggest group of permits that we issue.
1:46:03
We do issue agency permits as well, some to nonprofits, like Meals on Wheels and that type of thing.
1:46:12
And with all of the permits we issue, we try to uphold the highest standards of vetting so that we're catching any people who are improperly trying to qualify for permits that they actually qualify for.
1:46:38
So that's a big part of it.
1:46:40
The placards themselves have holographic seals and serial numbers.
1:46:46
All of the placards that we issue are shared with NYPD every month, so they have a real time database accessible to each traffic agent in the field to be able to verify the validity of any given DOT permit or placard in real time.
1:47:08
And we do certainly track misuse.
1:47:12
There's a three strikes law.
1:47:15
And when permits are misused three times, I believe it's in an eighteen month period, We were able to revoke those permits, so that's something we track and revoke as needed.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:47:29
Thank you.
1:47:30
I'm sorry.
1:47:30
Did you touch on the part in terms of the coordination with PD?
Joshua Benson
1:47:33
Yes, I did.
1:47:35
And just to quickly recap it, each month we send NYPD a database of all of the valid DOT permits.
1:47:46
They integrate that into their system that the traffic enforcement agents use in the field.
1:47:52
So each traffic enforcement agent is able to verify in real time as they're doing enforcement whether a DOT permit is legitimate or not.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:48:03
Thank you for that.
1:48:04
Thank you, DOT, for your testimony today.
1:48:07
We are gonna get ready to move into the public comment sec section of this.