Parking

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (TA) has released a survey of nearly 1400 shoppers in downtown San Francisco that found less than one-fifth drive to shop, and that they spend less money in aggregate than shoppers using other transportation modes (PDF). The study indicates drivers spend more each trip than transit riders, but visit less often and account for far fewer total visits and therefore spend less total.

Why is San Francisco -- considered by many around the world to be a “progressive” and “green" city with a Transit First policy -- still debating whether to extend meter hours and parking enforcement, even in the face of a crippling Muni budget deficit? Didn't we merge Muni with the Department of Parking and Traffic precisely so policy decisions about management of the streets would benefit the operations of transit, bicycling, and walking?

The Port of San Francisco last week installed the first 8 of more than 100 new multi-space meters along the Embarcadero from the Ferry Building south to AT&T Park in what will become San Francisco's new pilot in dynamic parking management, SFPark. The Port meters are the first of what will be a year and a half trial with 6,000 curbside spaces and 11,500 garage spaces in seven pilot areas around the city, most of them downtown and in heavy-traffic tourist destinations (see map below).

Transportation accounts for one third of US greenhouse gas emissions and is the fastest growing source of emissions globally.  Most of this comes from automobiles, and technical fixes like biofuels or hybrid/electric cars will not get us to the 80 percent reductions in CO2 that we must attain to stabilize the climate. We need to reduce driving and re-orient our daily mobility towards transit, bicycling, and walking.  Even Ray LaHood, Obama’s Transportation Secretary – and a Republican – made the connection on a recent interview on C-Span.  And San Franciscans have demanded that their political leaders get it too. Polling, balloting, and surveying has reified that San Franciscans overwhelmingly support a “transit first” agenda and understand that this includes discouraging driving.  

Despite the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s daunting deficit -- $128.9 million – members of the MTA Board of Directors voted six to one yesterday for a surprise amendment to the budget to eliminate a proposed extension of parking meter enforcement on Sundays and from 6 to 10 pm on weekdays.

According to a "fact sheet" (PDF) released by the Mayor's office Friday, "new operational improvements and efficiencies" have been identified that will amount to $3.5 million in cost savings for the MTA, including giving MTA Executive Director Nat Ford more power over the SFPD's Traffic Company.

MTA Executive Director Nat Ford sat down with Streetsblog San Francisco last week for an hour-long interview. In today's segment, he addresses the funding crisis facing California transit agencies, the long-awaited implementation of the Bike Plan and the internal MTA battle over how to balance the different modes.

The Music Concourse in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is living proof of that ancient maxim dating back to the movie Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come.

At its monthly board meeting today, BART staff will present a number of options for closing its budget deficit, including a proposal to extend parking fees to stations that don't already have them.  BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger will present the board with a preliminary operating budget for FY 2010, which will have a $23 million deficit.  BART staff anticipate a four-year operating deficit of nearly $250 million, though policies enacted this year could lower that number to $139 million.