Sunday parking meters put on hold
A pilot program for Sunday parking meter enforcement set to begin June 1 in select City neighborhoods has been indefinitely postponed, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). Spokesperson Murray Bond says, “We do not have a new date at this point. It’s been pushed back.”
Commercial zones in the Marina, Financial District, Inner Richmond, West Portal, and Hayes Valley are slated to be a part of a pilot program in which metered hours will be extended to Sundays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. with a four-hour time limit.
The SFMTA currently has a budget deficit of over $56 million and is toying with a multitude of ideas to help bring that number down. The 25,000 parking meters in the city are being viewed as an underexploited source of revenue. Sunday enforcement of all meters would generate $2.8 million annually. This pilot program would be a proverbial dip into that pool to see what the water feels like. Yet for now, Sundays will remain free.
The program has been delayed due to a lack of preparedness. The physical changes needed to enact the program are not yet in place.
“All of the hardware is not installed,” says Bond. For the pilot to be an accurate test, Bond stresses the need for test areas to be fully prepared and without other burdens. “We want to make sure it’s a good area for an empirical study. We decided we will not do the study at West Portal as long as the construction is going on in order to help respond to concerns of businesses already compromised. While construction is going on, it is not a good place to run any empirical study.”
Furthermore, Bond says, “In terms of Sunday parking, we need to touch base with the stakeholders involved. It is our policy to be transparent, and in order to assure that we need to do more outreach.”
When asked whom he meant by stakeholders, he said mainly businesses, as all pilot areas were commercial areas. “They’re commercial zones and will affect residents a little. For example, shoppers may be forced to park off Geary two blocks, affecting residents’ parking, but we want more turnover in front of businesses.”
Hayes Valley Merchant Association president Russell Pritchard agrees. “One of the key things [about Sunday metered parking] that benefits businesses is that it allows parking for customers, rather than providing private parking for the neighbors. I live in the neighborhood and have to find parking just like everybody else.”
Pritchard says, “We the association had initially opposed the program, but we met with directors from the MTA about our concerns and are now in support of it. We discussed our time limit concerns – about switching the limit from two hours to four hours – and ensuring that all meter heads have been switched out to accept credit cards. They assured us that they would be making those changes and doing more public outreach and with that we will be in support of the 90-day trial period.”
Others are glad the plan has been put off and would like it stopped altogether. David Heller, president of the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants Association, says, “We [the association] oppose the Sunday metering program.” Heller feels that further burdening customers by charging them for Sunday parking will be a deterrent to business. “Let’s make it even more complicated for the people trying to come in from outside of the City to patronize small businesses.” He continues, “It’s just going to chase people away.” He feels that in this economy, people will forgo the mounting inconveniences of shopping at small businesses in the City and go elsewhere, like Serramonte where it is cheaper and they can park for free. Heller says many of his clients are having a rough time, losing money, losing their jobs, and can’t survive in the City anymore. He doesn’t feel that asking the cash-strapped consumer for more is logical.
“They’re not running Muni right. They used to charge less and have a surplus. Instead of solving the problems, they say let’s just pick on small business owners,” says Heller. “As president, I’m currently dealing with 52 empty shops on the Geary corridor.” Heller feels there is a harsh climate for small-business owners in the City. “We’re against it, but they’re going to do it anyway. There is no respect for the small business owners and we’re the ones who are hiring.”
For now, the pilot program is on hold, but when it begins, Bond notes that the MTA plans to monitor the effects on businesses by talking to merchants about changes in their customer traffic.
“The intent is maintaining close ties with merchants and getting information from that. We are going to then try to quantify what they share with us,” Bond says. “As soon as we know a start date, there will be a press release and when it’s ready for primetime, we will do a communication campaign.”
Commercial zones in the Marina, Financial District, Inner Richmond, West Portal, and Hayes Valley are slated to be a part of a pilot program in which metered hours will be extended to Sundays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. with a four-hour time limit.
The SFMTA currently has a budget deficit of over $56 million and is toying with a multitude of ideas to help bring that number down. The 25,000 parking meters in the city are being viewed as an underexploited source of revenue. Sunday enforcement of all meters would generate $2.8 million annually. This pilot program would be a proverbial dip into that pool to see what the water feels like. Yet for now, Sundays will remain free.
The program has been delayed due to a lack of preparedness. The physical changes needed to enact the program are not yet in place.
“All of the hardware is not installed,” says Bond. For the pilot to be an accurate test, Bond stresses the need for test areas to be fully prepared and without other burdens. “We want to make sure it’s a good area for an empirical study. We decided we will not do the study at West Portal as long as the construction is going on in order to help respond to concerns of businesses already compromised. While construction is going on, it is not a good place to run any empirical study.”
Furthermore, Bond says, “In terms of Sunday parking, we need to touch base with the stakeholders involved. It is our policy to be transparent, and in order to assure that we need to do more outreach.”
When asked whom he meant by stakeholders, he said mainly businesses, as all pilot areas were commercial areas. “They’re commercial zones and will affect residents a little. For example, shoppers may be forced to park off Geary two blocks, affecting residents’ parking, but we want more turnover in front of businesses.”
Hayes Valley Merchant Association president Russell Pritchard agrees. “One of the key things [about Sunday metered parking] that benefits businesses is that it allows parking for customers, rather than providing private parking for the neighbors. I live in the neighborhood and have to find parking just like everybody else.”
Pritchard says, “We the association had initially opposed the program, but we met with directors from the MTA about our concerns and are now in support of it. We discussed our time limit concerns – about switching the limit from two hours to four hours – and ensuring that all meter heads have been switched out to accept credit cards. They assured us that they would be making those changes and doing more public outreach and with that we will be in support of the 90-day trial period.”
Others are glad the plan has been put off and would like it stopped altogether. David Heller, president of the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants Association, says, “We [the association] oppose the Sunday metering program.” Heller feels that further burdening customers by charging them for Sunday parking will be a deterrent to business. “Let’s make it even more complicated for the people trying to come in from outside of the City to patronize small businesses.” He continues, “It’s just going to chase people away.” He feels that in this economy, people will forgo the mounting inconveniences of shopping at small businesses in the City and go elsewhere, like Serramonte where it is cheaper and they can park for free. Heller says many of his clients are having a rough time, losing money, losing their jobs, and can’t survive in the City anymore. He doesn’t feel that asking the cash-strapped consumer for more is logical.
“They’re not running Muni right. They used to charge less and have a surplus. Instead of solving the problems, they say let’s just pick on small business owners,” says Heller. “As president, I’m currently dealing with 52 empty shops on the Geary corridor.” Heller feels there is a harsh climate for small-business owners in the City. “We’re against it, but they’re going to do it anyway. There is no respect for the small business owners and we’re the ones who are hiring.”
For now, the pilot program is on hold, but when it begins, Bond notes that the MTA plans to monitor the effects on businesses by talking to merchants about changes in their customer traffic.
“The intent is maintaining close ties with merchants and getting information from that. We are going to then try to quantify what they share with us,” Bond says. “As soon as we know a start date, there will be a press release and when it’s ready for primetime, we will do a communication campaign.”
