This is going to sound like one of those class-action lawsuit radio ads, but: have you paid the SFMTA for a parking, street cleaning, or traffic ticket recently? It's possible you could be owed a refund, according to a report from CBS. An audit by transportation officials found that the agency has been holding about $600,000 in overpaid and duplicate fines. To check and see if you're owed money, you can read through the SFMTA's Escheatment Report. It lists everybody who has overpaid their fines along with how much money they're owed and what kind of violation for which they were being fined. SFGate says that all of the citations were issued between January 1st, 1995, and June 30, 2014.

It's important that you check soon, though, as the deadline to file for a refund is December 14th. After that date, any unclaimed funds go straight to the city, says KRON 4. The Examiner points out that you should probably check the list even if you're from out-of-state, as a few out-of-state license plates are on the list.

If you're curious: apparently the person with the highest refund amount owed to them is Susan Alonso, who is entitled to $516 after paying multiple street cleaning tickets from 2012. The vast majority of payers are owed anywhere from $20 to hundreds of dollars.

To file for your refund, call 415-701-3000 or visit www.sfmta.com/citationinfo.

Related: Where In SF Are You Most Likely To Get A Parking Ticket?

According to numbers crunched by a local parking app, drivers in the Financial District, in the Civic Center area, and in the Inner Richmond and North Beach are most likely to get ticketed for errant parking, according to SFMTA data crunched by a local parking app.

Hey, don't let the "local parking app" thing send you packing! I know, I rolled my eyes, too, and rolled them even harder when I realized that the app was the new face of Sweech, that parking-swapping app that got shut down by SF's city attorney back in 2014. (You can find my report from May on the company's mutation here.)

But their analysis seems to hold up, as what the company (now called Spot Angels) did is take the SFMTA's public data on parking ticket revenue and dice it up using the information the startup says they've compiled on the number of parking places per neighborhood. So, assuming their parking spot count is accurate, they say in a report that while SoMa generates the most ticket money in the city ($11,383,000 per year), if you look at the number of tickets per space, the Financial District takes the prize, with 11 tickets per street parking spot.

According to the SFMTA, as of July 1 on-street parking ticket costs ranged from $52 (Blocking Residential Door) to a whopping $875 for those found to be misusing a disabled placard. According to SFMTA data reported by Spot Angels, the most commonly-issued ticket is for street cleaning violations ($73), as they made up 43 percent of those issued and generated a total of 36,718,640 in revenue.

Errant meter use (variable, depending on location) came in second, with a 17 percent ticket share and a revenue generation of $15,325,386. Third are folks who park too long in areas with residential permits ($84): Those were 10 percent of tickets, for revenue of $10,131,108.

They also break down the three blocks you're most likely to get nailed:

300 Townsend St. The most common violation for 300 Townsend St is parking on Bus Zone. This ticket is priced at $288 and the most ticketed time is Thursday at 8AM.

500 Mission St. - 1st & 2nd St.
Be aware of street cleaning on Mission Street on Tuesday at 2AM. Almost 4,000 tickets are issued with a value of nearly $300,000/year.

400 1st St.
Beware not to block the intersection when parking on 1st Street between Folsom and Harrison. This is the most common ticket, mostly issued on Friday afternoon at 5PM. This ticket is priced at $106.

The best places to park, they say, are the Presidio (fewer than one ticket per spot per year) and Twin Peaks (where your car might get robbed but at least you won't get a ticket). However, as SFist commenter tarniv notes, and I really should have thought of as someone who saw The Presidio in the theater, parking rules in the Presidio aren't enforced by the SFMTA so any data Spot Angel had from the transit agency wouldn't apply to that part of the city.

Related: Do 'No Parking' Signs For Street Cleaning Still Apply After The Street Cleaner Is Gone?

There's a parking miscalculation every San Franciscan with a vehicle eventually makes: leaving your car in a street cleaning zone during the day and hours street sweepers approach. But every thorn has its rose, and though getting a ticket for mistaking the second Friday for the third (or whatever) sucks, that bitterness is counteracted by the parking sweetness you get when you arrive on an empty street after the sweeper has passed. But what if the time constraints remain, and the freshly-cleaned streets bear signs saying it's still verboten to park for the next hour or so? Do you park?

As parking and traffic fines went up as of July, this risk seems riskier than ever. You can see the SFMTA's current full roster of fines here, in which it's noted that the ticket you'll get for a street cleaning violation rose from $71 to $73 last month. While logic and sense might tell you that there's no reason not to park on an already-cleaned street, many might argue that neither logic nor sense dictate many of the SFMTA's regulations.

But in this case, they do! So reports KQED, which was asked “If you see a street cleaner come through on a street cleaning day, can you park on the block before the end of the NO PARKING time frame that’s posted?”

According to SFMTA traffic enforcement officer Denise Golden, who spoke with KQED, yes, you may — but first, you need to be sure the full cycle of street sweeping has taken place.

The first vehicle in the street cleaning parade is the broom support truck. A worker picks up large items off the street - things like big pieces of wood or an abandoned chair — and chucks them into this truck. They’re looking for anything that cannot be vacuumed up by the street sweeper.

Next comes the street flusher, which is used mostly on commercial streets like Market and Mission. The flusher has jets underneath the truck that shoot water on the roadway, loosening grime and grit.

Third in line is the parking ticket officer, citing cars that haven’t moved.

Finally, the street sweeper comes along with big brushes and a large tube that vacuums up all the remaining trash on the street.

Of course, as with many things from the SFMTA, the practice differs from the official account. According to John Sheehan, whose official job title with the city is "truck driver" but who KQED says sweeps streets in Noe Valley, "it’s usually a two-step process: The parking enforcement person moves ahead of him and then he alone cleans the street."

But whatever the case, be it two, four, or six steps, the bottom line remains: If you see the huge truck with the big tube and brushes pass by, it's safe to park, even if signs in the area claim you're still within the forbidden hours. At least, that's what the SFMTA said that day. Have you had a different experience?

Previously: Report: San Franciscans Spend 83 Hours Per Year Looking For Parking

"Are Tickets for Double Parking A Real Thing?" we asked back in 2013, with nearly 80 percent of the respondents to our survey answering "no." And it appears that San Francisco Supervisor/District 11 State Senator hopeful Scott Wiener was one of the "no" voters, as in a Monday interview the D8 rep admitted that enforcement of city double parking laws is where city "agencies have just failed."

Wiener, who's also the chair of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, let loose on the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency during a wide-ranging interview with Streetsblog SF (read the whole thing here). When asked why a Muni operator allegedly involved in a racial-slur laden road rage incident was fired but a SFMTA staffer filmed parking in the bike lane, with numerous other MTA and SFPD officers refusing to ticket him remained, Wiener did not mince words, saying that "neither the SFMTA or SFPD takes double-parking seriously."

"But double parking is one area where both agencies have just failed… it’s private automobiles, it’s taxis, it’s garbage trucks… it’s an unending situation," Wiener said, "and that is indicative of the agency’s general laissez-faire approach to double parking."

This isn't the first time Wiener has taken on the SFMTA over double parking enforcement: In March of last year, SF Bay reported at the time, Wiener tore into the MTA over a drop in citations for the offense, from 24,263 in 2013 to 22,072 in 2014. At the time, the SFMTA’s enforcement manager said the drop was due to a staffing shortage, and said "said parking control officers are told to not to ignore double-parked vehicles no matter what assignment."

But, despite what PCOs are told, it's apparently not making enough of a dent to impress Wiener, who describes double parking as "one of my significant frustrations." And not only is double-parking frustrating, Wiener says, it's bad for anyone who calls the San Francisco Fire Department. When on a ride-along with the SFFD, Wiener says, "fire trucks were getting stuck behind double-parked cars. The driver of the truck said yes, there are a number of streets where he has to look down a street for double-parked cars and if he sees one he has to take a different street."

"I repeatedly expressed to the fire department that double parking is a fire-and-life-safety issue and the fire department should be beating the drum on SFPD and SFMTA on double parking," Wiener says, seemingly suggesting that firefighters might have more juice than a city Supe.

But as Wiener noted last year, "It’s not uncommon to see a double-parked vehicle block a Muni bus and even shut down an entire Muni line." If we can't expect the city agency that is, itself, being thwarted by double parkers to bother with enforcement, why should we expect our fire department to give a damn?

Previously: Video: San Francisco Double-Parkers Shamed (But Not Ticketed)

On May 14, after a three-year expansion project, SFMOMA will have its big moment in one of the SF art world openings that led the Wall Street Journal to declare a general San Francisco art renaissance. If you want to be among the first to celebrate, you're advised to secure free tickets starting this Wednesday at noon on their website.

Though opening day admission is free, the Chronicle explains that tickets for arrivals in 15-minute intervals will be required. That's to keep things from becoming the inevitable madhouse they will become anyway.

Now measuring 460,000 square feet, the threefold larger museum at 151 3rd Street has given us a floor-by-floor breakdown of what to expect, and SFist also took a look at the bare-walls, bare-bones galleries during construction.

SFMOMA will be open all week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Labor Day, with hours until 9 .m. on Thursday and permanent hours TBD. The best news for young art savants — the museum will now be free for those 18 and younger.

Related: Here's What To Expect When SFMOMA Finally, Finally Reopens In May
Step Inside The Almost, Not-Quite-Finished SFMOMA, Open Next May

This year's Outside Lands fest was more popular than ever, with tickets selling out within hours of going on sale, and some 200,000 people reportedly in attendance. A lot of people got screwed before they made it through the gates, however, as at least a few dozen crooks tried to make a quick few thousand dollars selling fake Ticketmaster vouchers and tickets. One of the con artists even told his mark that he would walk her through the gates, as the Chron reports, but disappeared before she found out she'd been duped.

As the SFPD's spokesman Officer Gordon Shyy tells KTVU, 35 people were detained on Friday and Saturday for selling false tickets and passes, which seems to mark a record for this kind of crime at this festival, and likely had something to do with the high demand for tickets.

In other news, a new generation of nerds skirted the alcohol ban by heading into Golden Gate Park days ahead of the festival and burying bottles of whiskey within the festival grounds with GPS trackers on them, as CBS 5 reports.

Also, parking was a nightmare, people peed all over the Avenues, and Uber was charging 5x surge pricing, all of which shouldn't come as that great a surprise.

We'll have a gallery of photos for you shortly.

[Chron]
[KTVU]
[CBS 5]

• 700,000: The number of people who ride Muni every day
• $20 million: The amount of money, per year, that Muni says that it's losing because some riders don't pay their fare
• 54: The number of full-time fare inspectors employed by the SFMTA to catch those scofflaws
• 70,000: The number of people those fare inspectors cited for fare evasion last year
• 55,000: The number of riders who've been cited for fare evasion since July 2013
• 3%: The percent of Clipper Card scanners on Muni transit vehicles that are broken
• 8700: The number of Muni riders, since July 2013, who say they have been wrongly cited for fare evasion due to those broken scanners
• 175: The number of people who were able to get those citations dismissed
• $103: The cost to settle a Muni fare evasion citation
• $2.4 million: The amount of money fare evasion citations have generated for the SFMTA since July, 2013.

All facts and figures: Broken Muni readers can mean unfair tickets, May 22, 2014, San Francisco Chronicle

Though Muni fare inspectors tend to be miserable, grumpy people who do not want to hear your stories, there is in fact reason to argue that Clipper Card-based tickets might not be valid. As SF Examiner reports, card readers aboard non-Metro, above-ground vehicles like streetcars and busses don't actually acknowledge your payments until the driver's shift is over, which may not be for hours. Thus, if an SFPD officer comes aboard a bus doing a routine check for crime and fare evaders, he or she can't properly check your Clipper Card without a handheld reader, or without going to a device located by the driver's seat in which they can see any recent use of the car via a swipe.

S.F. resident and Muni rider Daniel Persson found this out one morning last month when he was issued a ticket by an SFPD officer after he had just made a valid swipe of his Clipper Card moments before.

As for tagging your card on the underground Muni, well, that supposedly registers immediately on your account. But this system is full of holes, people! And those trains have made you late for work or for appointments more times than you can count! Don't let them push you around if you swiped it somewhere and something went wrong and — who knows?! Stranger things have happened. Here are some various ideas for fighting a citation by way of a hearing.

[SF Examiner]

While filming at SoMa StrEat Food Park this afternoon, Guy Fieri, controversial host of Triple D, had his bitchin' Camaro ticketed by the fuzz.

Pft.

In lighter DDD production news, Mr. Fieri spent his day at StrEats sampling a bevy of food truck offerings while sporting a baby blue shirt and signature sunglasses behind his ears. Above are a few delightful photos of Guy in action.

Previously: Guy Fieri Brings Flamboyant Scene Outside S.F. Gay Bar

This year's Outside Lands lineup might include Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Blaque, a sprig of thyme, doorknobs, and the letter "M." Or not. We wouldn't know. They have yet to announce this year's entertainment. But this minor issue doesn't mean that, starting today at noon, they won't stop you from forking over cash to buy tickets.

Scheduled for August 9th - 11th, early-bird tickets for the annual concert in Golden Gate Park go on sale at noon. Todays ticket prices, via Radio Alice, are as follows:

Eager Beaver 3-Day Ticket - $195.00 (Limited Availability)
Special 3-Day Ticket - $215.00 (Available when Eager Beaver Sells Out - Limited Availability)
Parking 3-Day - $195.00 (Limited Availability)
Shuttle Pass 3-Day - $39.00 (Limited Availability)

Outside Lands has played host to numerous acts like Radiohead, Metallica, Pearl Jam, and Stevie Wonder.

Tickets can be purchased at SFOutsideLands.com and APEConcerts.com. Good luck with this roll of the dice.

Quick reminder (not that you need one), but the 49ers are in the playoffs. Which means that tickets for Sunday's Divisional Round playoff game between SF and Green Bay Packers are on sale. Right now. And you won't want to miss the game/see Daisy sob with elation or sorrow (hopefully for former!) at Candlestick this weekend.

Tickets for Saturday's 5 p.m. game can be purchased via Ticketmaster. Have at it, fans.

Jumpy Academy Award-winning comedian Robin Williams will make two rare (?) appearance at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley next week, and tickets go on sale at 1 p.m. today. What he bills "Still Working on Material," Williams will appear on Monday and Wednesday, Oct. 29 and 31, at the theater.

Tickets will be limited to two per person. They will run you $50 each and are available online at www.142throckmortontheatre.com. They will be available for pick-up at the theater box office, beginning at 3 p.m. on the day of the show.

[via Marin IJ]

Here's another chance to win a pair of tickets to Asian Art Museum's popular Matcha series. This week's event has the titillating theme of Sensuality, making it the perfect post-Valentine's Day date event. The fifth person to email sfistevents@gmail.com with Matcha in the subject line, along with their full name, wins! Good luck.

Let's get it on. Turn on all your senses with an array of titillating "hot spots" throughout the museum. Soak up the intimate tea lounge hosted by Tea Alchemy (of Burning Man notoriety), smell the signature fragrances created by aromatic artist Yosh Han as inspired by Maharaja, and join critically acclaimed comic book artist MariNaomi as she reads from her graphic memoir Kiss and Tell: A Romantic Resume Ages 0-22. Explore themes of obsession, sex, and lust in the galleries, make your own "smell saver" (for enjoying Yosh Han's custom fragrances), adorn your skin with henna art, relax with an Ayurvedic head massage, and let DJ Mauricio Aviles provide for your aural needs. How can you resist? Click here for details, and share on Facebook.

MATCHA: Sensuality
Thursday, Feb 16, 5-9 pm
Only $10 (includes entry to Maharaja)
Asian Art Museum
200 Larkin Street