• Decrease by 50¢ during 5% of metered hours
• Decrease by 25¢ during of 30% of metered hours
• Stay the same 39% of metered hours
• Increase by 25¢ during 26% of metered hours

CLICK HERE to view the rate adjustment maps
CLICK HERE to sign up for the SFpark rate adjustment and project news mailing lists

Major findings include:

• San Francisco’s highest hourly meter rate was the 4th highest after Vancouver, Chicago, and New York City; but its lowest hourly meter rate was in the lowest quartile.
• At $65, San Francisco and New York City share the highest citation amount.
• 41 percent of cities meter on Sundays (up 20 percent from 2010). California cities metering on Sundays include Glendale, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Old Pasadena, Santa Monica, Sausalito, San Francisco (in Port of San Francisco jurisdiction), and Ventura.
• Four cities have eliminated meter time limits at certain times, and nine cities extended time limits beyond three hours.

The survey is not prescriptive and does not take into account the variables of each city’s unique context (e.g., density, demographics, and regional population).

Click here to download the study

San Francisco has received the 2012 Sustainable Transport Award from the Institute for Transportation and Developmental Policy, for the City’s innovative parking management system and cycling and public space improvements. SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin accepted the award during the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in Washington D.C.

San Francisco was recognized for “capturing imaginations locally and around the world” for the SFpark project, the Pavement to Parks program that turns unused street spaces into public plazas and parks, and other transportation projects.

CLICK HERE to read the award announcement

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) works with cities worldwide to bring about transport solutions that cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce poverty and improve the quality of urban life.

Every year the Steering Committee selects a city from around the world that has made profound advancements in sustainable transportation innovations. Both San Francisco and Medellín were selected based on four criteria: increasing mobility for residents, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from transportation, improving safety, and increasing access for cyclists and pedestrians.

According to a report released yesterday by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), new meters with longer time limits have resulted in fewer parking tickets and more meter payments as expected under the SFpark project. The report focuses on the first half of 2011, before SFpark made any demand-responsive meter rate adjustments.

As part of SFpark, the SFMTA has installed new, credit card-enabled meters at about 7,000 of the City’s 26,800 metered parking spaces since early 2010. The SFMTA also extended time limits at SFpark meters to four hours, and in some places time limits were eliminated altogether.

The new meters and longer time limits make parking more convenient, and had the following expected results:

• Parking meter-related citations decreased 14 percent more at the new meters than at the meters that were not upgraded.
• The new meters brought in 27 percent more net meter revenue (not including parking meter-related citations) than the older meters.
• Adding together meter revenue and meter-related citations, the new meters are generating about 11 percent more net revenue than meters that were not upgraded.

CLICK HERE to download the report (.5 MB pdf)

In 2012 the SFMTA will evaluate whether the new meters lower coin collection and maintenance costs, the effect of demand-responsive pricing, as well as complete a more thorough, longer-term evaluation of how SFpark affects overall parking revenues, whether from meters, citations, garages, parking tax, or other sources. The SFMTA will also evaluate how SFpark helps to achieve broader goals, including minimum levels of parking availability, reducing congestion, and improving Muni reliability.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) SFpark project today launched PayByPhone parking payment service at meters in the Castro district, and will expand the service Citywide in the coming months. By making it easier to pay for parking, PayByPhone will help people avoid parking tickets.

With this new service, customers can pay for parking at meters by phone, receive a reminder message when time is almost up, add time without returning to the meter (subject to time limit restrictions), and receive receipts via email.

PayByPhone makes it possible to pay with a credit card at any meter. The SFMTA will install the service at the older single-space meters first, which gives customers more payment options; then install at the multispace meters and new coin and card meters.

PayByPhone is provided at no cost to the City, so the service provider adds a 45 cent fee per transaction to cover all costs.

Here’s how it works:

• PayByPhone is available on any meter with a PayByPhone decal affixed to its side.
• Customers call 866-490-7275 or download the app at paybyphone.com.
• After registering, they enter the meter location number and desired length of stay.
• The meter display will not change, but payments are on record for Parking Control Officers.

Customers with Near Field Communications (NFC) capable smartphones can “tap” the meter to initiate streamlined payment. Once installed at the 28,000 SFMTA and 1,000 Port of San Francisco car and motorcycle metered spaces, this will be the largest single NFC deployment in the U.S.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will carry out its third demand-responsive rate adjustment at on-street SFpark parking meters in mid-December. In this third rate adjustment, meter rates will:

• Decrease by 50¢ during 6% of metered hours
• Decrease by 25¢ during of 29% of metered hours
• Stay the same 38% of metered hours
• Increase by 25¢ during 27% of metered hours

CLICK HERE to see the map showing automobile meter rate adjustments and affected blocks

In the next few weeks, the SFMTA will also do its second demand-responsive rate adjustment at motorcycle parking meters in SFpark pilot areas. As a result of this change, motorcycle meter rates will:

• Decrease by 10¢ or 20¢ during 64% of metered hours
• Stay the same 17% of metered hours
• Increase by 10¢ during 19% of metered hours

CLICK HERE for more information about SFpark rate adjustments

Constructing this much-needed dataset took about 130 person-hours, work that included updating data, compiling data from different sources, and field verification by bicycle.

CLICK HERE to view a PDF map of regularly scheduled tow zones
CLICK HERE to download the GIS dataset

The data is at least 95% accurate as of November 2011, and the SFMTA will continue to improve the data with additional field verification. It does not include tow zones that do not follow weekly schedules or only affect single spaces. Drivers should always look for signage near their parking spaces and follow posted regulations.

Contact: Paul Rose
415.601.1637, cell
paul.rose@sfmta.com

SAN FRANCISCO (November 14, 2011) —The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees all surface transportation in the City, including the Municipal Railway (Muni), offers tips and tools for safe, convenient holiday shopping—great transit options and parking information—to those planning to visit downtown San Francisco for shopping and entertainment this holiday season. The best way is by transit; the Muni Metro/BART Powell Station is convenient to Union Square and has direct access to the San Francisco Centre. Those who choose to drive have smart parking options aided by the SFMTA’s innovative SFpark program and improvements.

The SFpark program is halfway through installing over 200 street signs that direct drivers to the 15 SFpark garages. All signs will be up by Thanksgiving, just in time for the holiday shopping season. The bright blue “P” signs are already visible in such neighborhoods as the Mission, Japantown and the Financial District.

“Going straight to garages rather than circling or double-parking in search of a metered space will help reduce congestion,” said Tom Nolan, Chairman of the SFMTA Board of Directors. “This makes it possible for Muni to run more efficiently and allows everyone to get to their destination quicker and easier.”

“If you must drive during the busy holiday season, avoid circling the block looking for an open space. Go directly to an SFpark garage, where parking spaces are usually available and hourly rates are often lower than at meters,” said Edward D. Reiskin, Director of Transportation. “SFpark garages are located in the heart of many of the City’s neighborhoods and in the downtown shopping districts.”

The SFMTA encourages holiday shoppers to go straight to SFpark garages rather than circle for parking on streets filled with traffic and pedestrians. Finding a parking space quickly will help alleviate holiday shopping traffic woes.

Benefits of the SFpark garages include:

• Many hourly rates have dropped due to demand-responsive pricing, often below on-street meter rates.
• SFpark garages charge in 30-minute increments instead of one hour.
• SFpark garages almost always have space available, even when on-street parking is taken.
• All SFpark garages have the same clear and easy-to-understand rate structure.
• Unlike meters, garages have no time limits.
• Customers can find locations, rates and parking space availability for SFpark garages on SFpark.org, iPhone and Andriod apps or by texting “sfpark” to 877877.

The busiest days to shop at Union Square are (in order):

Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving
Fridays and Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas
Christmas Eve and December 26.

Least crowded days of the week to shop at Union Square between Thanksgiving and Christmas: Sundays and Mondays.

For more holiday shopping tips, please visit sfmta.com. For more information on SFpark garages, please visit SFpark.org/garages.

Download the SFpark iPhone source code
Download the SFpark Android source code

After creating an app, website or visualization using SFpark data, developers are encouraged to email developer@SFpark.org with a download link and use @SFMTA_SFpark for any Twitter references. SFpark is looking at ways to help promote third-party use of its data.

When publishing applications, it’s a good idea for developers to use the phrase “SFpark” only in relation to the data. “SFpark” is a service mark of the City and County of San Francisco.

When SFpark first completed this census in 2010, it was the nation’s first citywide census of publicly available parking. This data has enabled the SFMTA, other City departments, and interested parties to quickly assess parking supply when planning various types of projects, saving time and money. For example, the SFMTA used this data to determine parking supply along the Geary bus rapid transit corridor and to develop a parking management plan for Mission Bay.

CLICK HERE to download a summary of San Francisco’s publicly available parking supply by neighborhood
CLICK HERE to access all parking census maps and geospatial data