San Francisco to begin enforcing new congestion strategy

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The rush hour commute is never easy, but there is an effort underway to make it a little better in San Francisco. Parking officers are keeping a close eye on some of the most congested areas.

The crackdown is underway weekday mornings from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and weekday afternoons from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

If you block an intersection, you could be fined $103, if you double park it is a $110 fine and more if you're stopped by police.

Double parking, delivery trucks, cars blocking intersections and construction projects have made it harder on everyone to navigate their way through the city.

"I almost got into it with a construction guy the other day. He was trying to make me turn a way I didn't want to go, so it's very frustrating at times and I was trying to get somewhere. It's hard to get somewhere on time these days," Commuter Pearline Hawkins said.

"I'm from Atlanta originally and I thought the traffic was bad in Atlanta, until I got to San Francisco," San Francisco resident Gus Goddard said.

Enter the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency -- the ones that oversee the parking control officers.

"Every construction project has a very specific permit and we are going to make sure that any construction project that doesn't have the right to be in the road during rush hour is out the road by rush hour," Tom Maguire, the SFMTA Director of Sustainable Streets said.

During the crackdown, Muni bus drivers will also be able to call dispatch to report a driver. This is not the first time the city has taken measures to improve the flow of traffic. So do people think it will work?

"No, I don't think they'll have enough people out here to be ticketing," Hawkins said.

The city is asking people to give it some time.

"It's going to make the streets safer and more reliable. You'll never solve every last congestion problem in this city, but I think we are going to make a big dent in congestion and make the streets a lot safer this way," Maguire said.

The congestion strategy will strictly be enforced starting Monday, May 18, 2015.