SF 2010: Rise of the Meters
San Francisco is beginning to roll out new parking meters with embedded sensors that will replace the old coin and credit card meters. The Hayes Valley area will be the first to get the new meters, followed by other congested areas such as the Financial District, Marina, Fillmore, SOMA, Civic Center, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Mission. In total, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency hopes to roll out 5,100 new meters, which comprises of the new high-tech meters, over 8,000 embedded sensors, and $20 million of federal funding.
The $24.75 million transportation project will help ease congestion and air pollution by adjusting the parking fee based on sensors that report how many empty spaces there are as well as length of time a vehicle remains parked in a single spot. According to The Chronicle, the goal of the city-wide roll-out is to “is to prevent cars from circling the block looking for parking and to reduce congestion and air pollution.”
The Chronicle reports that “the city charges $2 to $3.50 an hour to park at a meter, depending on the neighborhood.” With the new variable rates, prices can range from $0.50 to $6 per day, with special event rates going up to $18 based on the economics concept of supply and demand.
San Francisco anticipates to collect more revenues from parking meters as a result of the new SFPark initiative, but less in parking fines and citations. A lot of the time limits may be lifted or extended with credit card systems and with multiple methods for payment–credit and debit cards, coins, and city parking cards–it’d be easier to pay for parking and not have to look for loose change.
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