July 2012

SFMTA Extends Parking Meter Assessment Schedule

By Keith Burbank

Last month, the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency (SFMTA) released a new timeline for collecting data on parking needs in Dogpatch, Mission, and Potrero Hill, and met with Mission Bay residents to obtain their comments on an updated meter installation plan for Mission Bay.

The modified Mission Bay parking proposal reflected a change in the plan’s geographic scope, which now only covers the area north of Mariposa Street, east of Seventh Street, and south of Bryant Street. At the beginning of the meeting, held in June, SFMTA director of transportation Ed Reiskin said that he expected the gathering to be a “final step” toward implementing the Mission Bay plan.At least two Mission Bay residents stated that they relied on their cars for their jobs, and that placement of meters near their homes makes life more difficult.

“Some people need a car,” said Kit Chang, who works in the City of Richmond. Rob Francis said he needs a car because his employer requires him to travel to client sites.

Mission Bay residents also complained about the Saturday operation of parking meters, which forced them to move their cars shortly after sunrise, with the increased starts contributing to polluting air and greenhouse gas emissions. “We all get up at 8 a.m. on Saturday to move our cars,” said Carla Frank.

According to Jon Innes, installation of parking meters in Mission Bay has made life much more difficult. “I wouldn’t recommend it [moving to San Francisco],” he said. According to David Rosales, of the Port of San Francisco, the City is willing to change the meters’ operating hours.

A Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association member repeated previous calls for SFMTA to create a comprehensive parking plan, including ways to address public transportation and traffic calming, and detail how mixed-use areas will be treated. Other Southside residents again raised the idea of a parking meter card and residential parking permits, two policies recommended by participants at other SFMTA meetings.

After the meeting Reiskin stated that there seems to be a consensus that meter operation should be different on baseball game days compared to non-game days. But, he said, his staff believed that implementing this idea “will be challenging.” In addition, he noted that, “We don’t want meters where they are not needed.”

In a win for concerned residents, SFMTA agreed to start reassessing residents’ parking needs in the 17th and Folsom Streets area this September, Potrero Hill in November 2012, Dogpatch in February 2013, and 12th and Folsom streets in April 2013. Between now and September, the agency is planning to document how it determines where to use different parking management tools. SFMTA will submit this schedule and selection criteria to its board for approval at an August 21 meeting, and will make the document available to residents before then.

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