Metered parking on Sacramento Street in Presidio Heights supports neighborhood businesses with time limits that open up spaces for customers.
Frustrating. Maddening. Impossible. These are a few of the words sometimes used to describe parking in San Francisco. It’s true that finding street parking in the city can be a challenge. But in “Curb Space,” the latest episode of our Taken with Transportation podcast, we explore why parking is at such a premium and how managing the curb can free up space and make our streets safer.
People, cars and space
“San Francisco has the second highest population density of any major city behind, of course, New York City,” SFMTA Parking and Curb Management Policy Manager Hank Willson tells Taken with Transportation host Melissa Culross. “But San Francisco also has the highest car density of any major city."
At the same time, our streets aren’t getting any longer. Willson explains that’s why we manage the curb space throughout the city. Time limits and designated spaces for deliveries and people with disabilities help us make room for everyone. And that, in turn, helps reduce double parking, which can be dangerous.
Finding parking like a pro
“Curb Space” takes listeners to the streets with Transportation Planner Shayda Rager. Rager describes in real time how different types of parking function on busy thoroughfares. And she offers some tips on how to find a place to leave your car.
“If I start looking for parking when I’m about two blocks away, I will find a spot,” Rager says. “I think that’s really the strategy around it.”
Rager also reminds listeners that yellow loading zones often are only in effect for part of the day. Outside of the loading hours, anyone can park there. And she adds that you can pull over in a loading zone for up to three minutes during those loading hours.
More accessible parking meters
We’ve come a long way since the first parking meter was installed in San Francisco in 1947. We recently finished a city-wide upgrade, and our new meters and pay stations are much easier to use. Plus, the instructions are available in several languages.
“We used to just be able to do English and Spanish,” explains Parking Meter Program Manager Tony Massetti. “But we [now also] have simplified Chinese.”
Massetti says the new meters and pay stations have a tap and pay function that has proven to be very popular. “I want to say [that] over 85% of all credit card payments at our meters are made by tap and pay now.”
San Francisco charm and its effect on parking
San Francisco is a city like no other. That’s why we love it here. But some of the city’s more attractive attributes impact parking.
“We don’t have big suburban parking lots, with a couple of exceptions if you go to Stonestown or something like that,” says Willson. “And that’s what makes our neighborhoods so wonderful and so livable and what makes them accessible if you’re someone who doesn’t have a car.”
Senior Planner Brian Manford and Parking Enforcement Supervisor Lisa Rodgriguez also appear in “Curb Space.” You can find it and all the episodes of Taken with Transportation at our podcast webpage (SFMTA.com/Podcast) and on our YouTube channel. We’re also on Apple, Spotify and other podcast directories.
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