Press Release - Chinatown South Parking Meter Upgrades
As part of a project to upgrade all of the parking meters in the city, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) today announced that it will be upgrading parking paystations in Chinatown with a new pay-by-license-plate parking system. The upgraded paystations will be activated on February 13, 2023. They are on existing metered blocks in part of the Chinatown District from Clay Street, north of Bush Street, and from Stockton Street, west of Kearny Street, including blocks near Portsmouth Square and along Bush Street adjacent to Union Square. To pay, customers will enter their license plate number at the paystation or using the PayByPhone mobile payment system.
The SFMTA has already replaced single-space meters with pay-by-plate paystations in several neighborhoods, including Castro, Civic Center, Hayes Valley, Financial District, the Mission, the Mission, and South Beach.
Upgraded Parking Paystation Locations in Chinatown
- 700 block of Clay Street
- 800 block of Clay Street
- 900 block of Clay Street
- 400 block of Kearny Street
- 600 block of Kearny Street
- 700 block of Kearny Street
- 700 block of Commercial Street
- 400 block of Grant Avenue
- 700 block of Grant Avenue
- 400 Block of Stockton Street
- 700 block of Stockton Street
- 800 block of Stockton Street
- 800 block of Sacramento Street
- 600 block of California Street
- 700 block of California Street
- 900 block of California Street
- 500 block of Grant Avenue
- 600 block of Grant Avenue
- 500 block of Pine Street
- 600 block of Pine Street
- 700 block of Sacramento Street
- 500 block of Bush Street
- 600 block of Bush Street
- 700 block of Bush Street
- 800 block of Bush Street
About the Citywide Parking Meter Upgrade Program
The SFMTA undertook this project because the current parking meters have reached the end of their useful lives and because many rely on 3G communications technology, which wireless companies have recently phased out. The upgraded paystations will provide several benefits for customers and the city, including:
Larger and more legible screens
- Multilingual instruction screens (Simplified Chinese, English, and Spanish)
- More intuitive user interface
- More resistant to vandalism
- More powerful batteries, so meters will remain operational for a much higher percentage of the time
The SFMTA Board and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the contract to procure new parking meters throughout San Francisco, and upgrade many areas to a pay-by-license-plate system in late Summer 2021.
For information on how to PayByPlate please visit, SFMTA.com/MeterPayment.
For more information about the parking meter replacement project and meter upgrades, visit Citywide Parking Meter Replacement Project or SFMTA.com/MeterUpgrade.