Proposal to expand San Francisco parking meter hours halted

SAN FRANCISCO -- A proposal that would have seen San Francisco parking meter hours expand into late nights and Sundays has been halted.

Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Ahsha Safai announced Monday that they had reached an agreement with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to halt the plans after a backlash by city residents. The SFMTA had proposed increasing parking meter hours to 10 p.m. on weekdays, an increase of four hours, and adding meter hours from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The Board of Supervisors said they received thousands of letters voicing opposition to the SFMTA's plans, which were first announced in May, and calling on the board to urge the transit authorities to delay implementing the new proposal.

Prior to reaching the agreement, Safai had planned on taking the issue to voters in March of next year but has since tabled that proposal.

"Small businesses and working families need the time to recover from the past few years of economic crisis," Safai said in a press release.

Safai said that after discussions with transit advocates and receiving a commitment from the SFMTA that the plan would be halted, he would withdraw his proposed charter amendment, which would have provided for mayoral accountability over proposed fare increases and expanded hours of operations.

In 2008, the SFMTA Board of Directors delegated authority to the director of transportation to set parking meter rates, operations and time limits, which effectively removed any public process for changes.

Safai's proposed charter amendment would have provided the mayor with the ability to block fare and parking meter increases.

"Many of our small businesses are still struggling to get back on their feet after the pandemic," Peskin said. "Now is not the time to nickel and quarter them and their customers. I'm glad that the SFMTA has agreed not to extend parking meter hours for the time being."