Community Corner
Some Employees, Visitors Taking Patient Parking At Walter Reed Bethesda
The parking crunch at Walter Reed Bethesda has made it more difficult for wounded warriors to find parking on base, WTOP reports.
Bethesda's Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is cracking down on employees who take parking spots reserved for wounded warriors, WTOP reports.
Military officers have been making rounds to stop employees from parking in the 1,100-space patient lot, according to the report.
"We were finding that people were parking in the patient garage that weren't patients, but were staff and visitors," Walter Reed National Military Medical Center spokeswoman Sandy Dean told WTOP.
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The parking crunch at the military hospital was exacerbated by the 2011 BRAC merger, which drew 3,600 extra employees to the base. One parking spot is available for about every 3.22 employees.
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Many workers there are turning to public transportation, however.
Since 2008, the number of employees using mass transit at the base has risen from 11 to 44 percent, registered carpools went from 100 to 450, and the number of staff driving to work in their cars alone dropped from 72 percent to 39.5 percent, Navy officials said at an October planning board hearing.
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