Meanwhile, across the Pacific, the State of Hawaii’s Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB) was studying this same issue and contemplating possible solutions. Hawaii had roughly 100,000 permittees, so it was likely that hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost revenue was occurring each year due to disability parking permit misuse. Fraud occurs in three ways. The first is by an applicant fraudulently filling out an application form. The most infamous case of this was in 1999 when 22 UCLA football players were caught using disability parking placards to park on campus after forging physician signatures. The second way is when a physician signs the form without conducting a thorough examination or by stretching the diagnosis to fit the eligibility criteria. A physician once told DCAB, “My duty is to my patient, not the integrity of your program.” The third way is when a person uses a permit that was issued to someone else; in other words, they borrow or steal the permit.

The State of Hawaii addressed these issues by requiring the physician to certify a condition and a functional impact on the application form, requiring a $12 replacement fee if a placard was reported lost or confiscated for misuse, and reducing the number of long-term placards that could be issued to an applicant from two to one. But these measures had only a limited impact. DCAB reasoned that once an applicant fraudulently obtained a disability parking permit to avoid parking fees, they would likely use it to park illegally in reserved accessible parking spaces. This would occur especially in large parking lots where the proximity of a reserved accessible parking space to a building’s entrance would tempt them to use the permit. A survey of permittees revealed that the larger a parking lot, the harder it was to find an available, accessible parking space.

While the Hawaii Revised Statutes limits the parking meter fee exemption to 2.5 hours or the maximum time the meter allows, whichever is longer, it was easy to observe vehicles parked more than the time limits—often all day, since there was sparse enforcement of the time limits. Those vehicles likely belonged to employees or residents of nearby offices and apartment buildings. Off-street parking in downtown Honolulu may cost up to $300 a month, so a strong financial incentive existed for misuse. The abuse of the time limit was likely more prevalent than the fraudulent use of a permit. An audit of the City and County of Honolulu’s bike share program revealed that several of the City’s on-street parking meters were only generating between 10%-20% of their projected maximum revenue. While some of that extreme shortfall was due to a space being unoccupied or because a vehicle had some sort of parking permit that waives the fee, disability parking permit abuse was a large contributing factor.

The states of Michigan, Illinois, Oregon, and Colorado previously implemented a tiered system of disability parking permits, where only a special placard provided the dual benefit of allowing the permittee to park in a reserved accessible space or in a space where payment is required without payment of that fee. The underlying premise is that a parking fee exemption should be related to barrier removal, not a financial subsidy. To qualify, an applicant must have a disability that prevents the applicant from reaching or operating a parking meter, and the applicant must be able to drive themselves (otherwise, the other person in the vehicle can pay the fee). These states informed DCAB that only about 3% to 10% of their applicants qualified for the special placard. They continue to issue their other applicants disability parking permits that allow them to park a vehicle in a reserved accessible parking space.

DCAB decided that a two-tiered system would be suitable for Hawaii, and in 2018 a bill was introduced at the State Legislature to amend the state’s disability parking law, Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 291, Part III, Parking for Disabled Persons. This first attempt to amend the law failed. But it was a valuable exercise that allowed DCAB to learn what the public’s objections were and which elected officials required outreach and detailed dialogue. In advance of the following legislative session, DCAB refined its list of individuals and organizations that were willing to submit testimony in support of the legislation, including county transportation and parking enforcement departments. DCAB obtained confirmation from the State Department of the Attorney General that the new law would not run afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act as some had alleged. The reintroduced bill passed the Legislature and was signed into law by Governor David Y. Ige on June 7, 2019.

The effective date of the amended law was set as July 1, 2021, to allow time for administrative rulemaking and procurement of a new green-colored placard, formally designated as the Disabled Paid Parking Exemption Permit (DPPEP). In addition to its green color (temporary placards are red, and long-term placards are blue), “DPPEP” is prominently displayed vertically on the placard. This is to assist parking enforcement personnel in low light situations and for those who are color blind. To qualify for the DPPEP, the applicant must possess a valid driver’s license and be certified by a Hawaii licensed physician or an advanced practice registered nurse that (1) the applicant has a qualifying mobility disability and (2) at least one of the following three conditions: (a) The applicant cannot reach above the applicant’s head to a height of 42 inches from the ground due to a lack of finger, hand, or upper extremity strength or mobility; (b) The applicant cannot approach a parking meter due to the use of a wheelchair or other mobility device; (c) The applicant cannot manage, manipulate, and insert coins, bills, or cards in a parking meter or pay station due to a lack of fine motor control in both hands.

This long delay in the effective date was fortuitous as the COVID-19 pandemic slowed these preparations down. DCAB successfully began issuing DPPEPs on July 1, 2021. Several efforts were made to inform the public. Information about the change was handed out with every disability parking permit issued. Every permittee who had an email on file with DCAB was contacted. DCAB’s Executive Director Kirby Shaw gave multiple interviews to local television and newspapers. And most directly, the parking enforcement agencies agreed to forgo issuing any citations for the first 45 days and instead placed warning flyers on vehicles displaying a disability parking permit at parking meters.

There were some negative reactions from permittees with legacy placards as they became aware of the change. Some permittees lamented the financial impact the new law would have on them, especially older people on a fixed income. But three specific geographical areas generated the bulk of the complaints. One was at Kapiolani Park, located across from Waikiki Beach. Many permittees would use the metered spaces without payment and walk across the road to go surfing or swimming. There are only a few free public parking spaces along the beach park, including reserved accessible spaces. The second area was at Straub Hospital and Kaiser Permanente Medical Facility in Honolulu. While both facilities have large off-street parking lots, they charge for parking. So many permittees would park without payment in the metered spaces along King Street, which fronts both locations. Because King Street becomes a no-parking zone at 3:30 p.m., this had a secondary effect of pushing permittees to make their appointments in the morning. And the third area was a Kailua senior residential facility that the City and County of Honolulu had exempted from providing the required minimum number of off-street parking spaces under the theory that the residents would not own cars. The few spaces that were designated for residential parking were part of a larger metered public parking lot. It became clear that many residents had been using their disability parking permits to park without payment in the public metered spaces 24 hours a day. DCAB advised these residents to petition the City and County to convert some of the public parking spaces to paid residential parking. A second surge in negative public reaction occurred after the 45-day grace period expired and citations were issued. Parking enforcement attached the warning flyers to the citations so permittees would understand the reason for the citation. The flyers provided DCAB’s contact information.

In the 18 months since the law took effect, only 400 applicants have qualified for the DPPEP, representing roughly half of 1% of the total disability parking permits in use. The City and County of Honolulu, which has approximately 70% of the state’s population, reported parking meter revenue of $4.05 million in fiscal year 2021. The meter revenue increased to $5 million in fiscal year 2022, the first full year the DPPEPs were in use and the legacy placards no longer conferred a meter fee exemption.

DCAB encourages all states that currently provide free parking to instead implement a tiered system of disability parking permits. Please feel free to contact DCAB at dcab@doh.hawaii.gov or (808) 586-8121 if you would like more information. Mahalo! ◆