Earlier this year, Mayor Ed Lee announced during his State of the City address that Muni was no longer underfunded and thus, the city could end the year-long experiment that was charging for metered parking on Sundays. While no one likes paying for street parking, the proposal ran counter to the city's transit-first philosophy and would leave millions of revenue on the table for the SFMTA.
As the Chronicle reports today, whether or not Sunday parking will once again be free probably won't be solved until the SFMTA finalizes the two-year budget plan that kicks in on July 1st, but the whole thing puts Transportation Director Ed Reiskin and the MTA's board of directors (who are appointed by the Mayor) in an awkward place. So, until the MTA and the bicycle, transit and pedestrians advocates can convince the mayor to back off on the Free Parking Sunday, Reiskin has suggest a few possible outcomes that will fit with the mayor's idea:
- Make meters non-operational on Sundays (in other words, back to free Sundays)
- Enforce only the time limits, but not meter payment (read: no need to feed the meter, but those "4 hour maximum" limits would still apply)
- Place a lower priority on enforcement (meaning: you have no idea if you'll get a ticket or not)
Anyhow, the earliest the SFMTA will make a budget decision could be their meeting on April 15th. Unless they buy a little more time, that is.
Previously: Ed Lee Wants To End Sunday Parking Meter Fees
[Chron]
