Getting home after a night of drinking is a headache to rival most hangovers: Taxis are unreliable, buses are rare, and parking enforcement hits the streets at 8:00 a.m., which discourages overnight parking (and encourages drunk driving).
On April 21, city officials took an important step to help get late-night revelers home safely by launching a parking program on Capitol Hill that allows people driving to concerts, bars, clubs, or other late-night activities to prepay for up to two hours of parking for the following morning—essentially giving drivers a grace period until 10:00 a.m. to retrieve their cars.
Blue-and-yellow informational stickers on parking pay stations explain that after 10:00 p.m., drivers can purchase two hours of parking for the following morning (from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.). The new program is part of Mayor Mike McGinn’s Nightlife Initiative, meant to bolster safety and access to Seattle’s nightlife scene. By this summer, the prepaid parking will apply to all pay stations in the city.
City officials are also working to set up late-night taxi zones in downtown, Belltown, Pioneer Square, Capitol Hill, the University District, and Ballard. Painted curbs and signs will denote the taxi zones, which are slated for June.
As for McGinn’s controversial plan to extend bar hours in Seattle: “That proposal is still being finalized,” said Aaron Pickus, spokesman for the mayor. 
BEST. SPAM. EVER.
I applaud the mayor on this one, although I disagree with him about the tunnel.
He should totally run on this.
Mayor McGinn: Making parking easier for drunks, and more expensive for sober people since 2011.
Couldn’t somebody have looked up the definition of “grace period”? It means either you get more time for free, or you get to pay after the fact with no additional penalty.
Pre-payment is almost the opposite of a grace period.
Come to think of it, a real grace period is what drunks actually need. They’re drunk, after all.
McGinn’s policy is a good compromise between @4 and @5.
If you’re too dumb to figure out how to take a bus or call a cab, it’s probably a safe bet you’re also too dumb to prepay for tomorrow’s parking. Drunk drivers are gonna drive drunk; first offense should just be mandatory prison, instead of this silly pandering to these assholes as outlined in this article.
Or we could just have decent mass transit that runs late…
Seeds… you’re an asshole. Mandatory prison for a FIRST OFFENSE? Jesus. Like it or not, alcohol is LEGAL and people will drink. It’s part of the culture for fuck sake and nothing is going to change that. Making it easier for people to NOT drive drunk, however, will make a difference and will help to get people off the roads when they shouldn’t be there.
And as for being too stupid to take a bus or call a cab… that’s only possible if buses are running and running to where you live, and have you ever tried to get a cab in Seattle?
DUI laws are TOO HARD on first offenders and TOO EASY on subsequent offenses. Yeah, I know this article isn’t about this, but people like Seeds that say dumbass shit like that just piss me right the fuck off. Jesus.
So, let me see if I understand this. Prepaying for extended “I’m too drunk to drive my car so I’ll leave it here and pick it up in the morning” grace periods are an incentive to take unreliable or non-existent alternate transpo home?
I’m confused. Where, exactly, are the drunks going? Or does there personal safety only extend to driving?
Ack…THEIR personal safety. Sheesh.
I just sleep in the car?