Investigations

On February 13, 2017, DOT-OIG issued a Management Implication Report to the Department of Transportation regarding its parking management services. Under the federal government’s lease agreement for the DOT headquarters building, the Office of Transportation Services (TRANServe) manages parking services under a fee-for-service system. DOT uses the fees collected by Parking and Transit Office (PTRAN) to pay for the Department’s services contract, parking management costs, and general overhead costs. PTRAN requires vehicles parked in the headquarters parking garage to display a valid parking permit and renewal decal.

 

Recent investigations by DOT-OIG revealed recurring abuse of parking privileges by employees and contractors (drivers). In all of the investigations, drivers utilized the garage without paying the appropriate and required fees to PTRAN. The schemes included illicit duplication of the parking decals, intentional failure to pay, and utilizing parking permits from other vehicles. Due to the number of investigations and the recurring problem with payments, DOT-OIG initiated a project to assess the matter and offer recommendations to PTRAN. For this review, DOT-OIG analyzed driver garage entry data during the months of October 2015 and April 2016 and found that the amounts owed to PTRAN were $22,464.00 and $28,356.00, respectively. Extrapolating the average of these amounts for a 12-month period would be a $304,920.00 annual loss to the Government due to non-payment of daily parking fees.

 

DOT-OIG made four recommendations to help DOT and PTRAN better address key concerns related to the collection of parking payments in the areas of detection, violations, payments, and contract specificity.