Parking Meters

As you may have heard, there's a proposal on the table to increase parking enforcement and fines as the SFMTA grapples with a $14 million budget hole. Like clockwork, the San Francisco Chronicle came out with another windshield-perspective editorial bemoaning the city's determination to uphold parking laws.

Since Scott Wiener took office as District 8 supervisor, he's stood out as a progressive transportation advocate at City Hall, holding the SFMTA accountable for improving service for Muni riders, making the streets safer for pedestrians, and more.

The SFMTA Board of Directors yesterday approved a two-year budget that calls for parking meter enforcement on Sundays and free Muni passes for low-income youth. The budget must still be approved by the Board of Supervisors before it goes into effect on July 1.

The SFMTA Board of Directors today approved a two-year budget that calls for parking meter enforcement on Sundays and free Muni passes for low-income youth. The budget must next be finally approved by the Board of Supervisors before it goes into effect on July 1.

The SFMTA announced yesterday that it would no longer include areas of the Dogpatch, Potrero Hill, and Mission neighborhoods in its pilot expansion of SFPark after pushback from a vocal group of opponents.

The SFMTA Board of Directors postponed a vote on a two-year budget yesterday in order to refine a proposal to provide free Muni for all youth. The board seemed to favor the rest of the budget, including enforcing parking meters on Sunday afternoons.

The SFMTA unveiled its proposed two-year budget today, and it includes extending car parking meter hours to Sundays between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m., but not during evenings. On those afternoons, the proposal promises to curb the congestion that results from drivers cruising for free parking when it's in high demand. The measure is one of many budget gap-closing components in a plan that avoids raising transit fares.

Speaking of extending parking meter hours...

Giving away free curbside car parking when it's in demand on Sundays and evenings just doesn't make any sense.