OK, forget nighttime paid parking, expanded restricted parking zones and more fines. Let’s get these.
- Wireless parking sensors: “Wireless parking sensors can detect availability space-by-space, minute-by-minute”
- Data feed: “In addition to parking availability maps accessible at SFpark.org, information on parking availability will be dispersed via the 511 system, mobile devices, text message, and through new electronic display signs at high-traffic locations in the City”
- Demand-responsive pricing: “meter pricing can range from between 25 cents an hour to a maximum of $6.00 an hour, depending on demand”
So, where’d SF come up with the money to back this pilot? 80% of the $20 to $25 million the city says the program will cost is being paid for by the Department of Transportation’s Urban Partnership Program. Seattle, by the way, has its own Urban Partnership Program project. But our money will be spent on a program “to deploy ‘open road’ electronic toll collection equipment, allowing tolls to be collected at freeway speeds” on the 520 bridge.
SFpark Overview from SFpark on Vimeo.
The old coin fed meters were just fine …. now some of the kiosks are not working well, and messed up with dirt and spray paint.
You just pay two hours if it is working to be on your way … the city wins more money, and you curse every time.
Parking policy is all about revenue. Nothing else. Shame.
At first glance, this seems like a good idea, but I can think of at least 2 problems with it:
1) Drivers will be checking their hand-held electronics as they seek an open place…greatly increasing the chances of crashes with other vehicles, and with pedestrians.
2) Apparently, from the video, there will need to be a parking meter at each spot. Seattle, following the European model in place for decades, has replaced almost all of these with pay stations (1-2 per block). This is a good thing as it decreases clutter on our streetscapes, and is much more efficient.
Not to mention all the spaces will have to be long enough for trucks and SUVs. Now two Fits/Minis/Fiestas can park in a typical SUV space.
If it is extremely difficult to find a spot that means the parking rates are too low. Increase the rates until one or two spots are always available on a given block.
which is why they change the prices from $.25/hr to $6/hr… so they always have at least one spot available. It’s all in the video!
This could still be done with our new pay stations. As long as there’s one sensor per parking spot, you could just make it so that the prices at the pay stations fluctuate accordingly for the blocks they are on, and then require that you have to buy your ticket from a station on that block. Market rate pricing! I love love love it
Yeah, and then make the proceeds from any increased revenue go directly back into noticeable improvements (like to sidewalks, pedestrian safety, landscaping, etc.) for the neighborhood they are in! Everybody wins!
As an officer of the Capitol Hill Community Council, I would be curious if folks would be interested in trying to implement a pilot program of variable parking pricing on Capitol Hill. Many people have mentioned this idea before, but we have never seriously tried to advocate for such a system. Please respond with any comments you may have.
MwC- parking meters have very little to do with revenue generation, they usually make very little money, in some placed probably don’t even pay for themselves. They are there to force turnover so people won’t park all day and there is a reasonable chance you can come along & find a spot.
I would hate to go back to one meter per spot…I like the open parking with a single centralized machine. I wish people would stop scratching them up, though.
It is definitely worth a pilot so that you can make your decisions based on facts and not assumptions.
Yes, I am not an unbiased participant, I am one of the vendors involved in the SFPark project.
Paul Toliver
Senior Advisor
Streetline, Inc
Zef, we should absolutely try this. I know there’s a lot on your plate right now though, and now that I’m back to full time work I have less time or energy to help with stuff.
We have more parking than we need on Capitol Hill–look at the 224/230 Broadway project being built with *1.5* spaces per unit less than a block from the Link station! We need more and better pricing. This sort of model, with tweaks, is worth a shot.
The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency has already abandoned this ridiculous project. Why? Because SFpark uses the ENRON model for pricing. Much like ENRON, the SFpark Program was built on imagination, media hype, and “gaming the market” to CA$H IN on hardworking Taypayers. Go to sfpark.info and learn how the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) squandered $20 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Money.