Devoting 0.01 percent of SF’s street parking so that shuttles can load out of Muni's way is an atrocity, according to the Chronicle. Image: ABC 7
This is seriously the narrative the Chronicle has construed, even though the article acknowledges that the amount of parking spaces is, "Well, not a huge amount — unless, of course, it’s a space you often use."
Unfortunately, it is true that every last parking space, no matter how remote, can find its own pocket of constituents. The Chronicle reported that the "Alamo Square Neighborhood Association... is fighting the proposed location of two shared stops at Hayes and Steiner streets because they would result in the part-time loss of parking." Note to Chronicle: right now, that same neighborhood is in the process of creating a long-needed residential parking permit zone to better manage its parking supply.
As the SFMTA told the Chronicle, three parking spaces in the entire shuttle pilot would be taken full-time to accommodate private transit boardings without getting in the way of Muni. These would serve far more than three bus and shuttle riders, of course, helping to reduce parking demand. Three spaces citywide, to make streets work more efficiently, evidently constitute an outrage for the Chronicle.
Aaron was the editor of Streetsblog San Francisco from January 2012 until October 2015. He joined Streetsblog in 2010 after studying rhetoric and political communication at SF State University and spending a semester in Denmark.