Idea #435682 of SF Gov to make SF a horrible place

[garbon]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/03/BA8V17USEA.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

The parking revolution in San Francisco has begun.

"I'm confused," Rojas said as he tried to figure out how to work one of the new high-tech parking meters on the San Francisco waterfront.

These newfangled meters take much more skill to operate than simply dropping coins into a slot.

Each new meter - or "pay station" as the bureaucrats call them - tracks about 10 parking spots, which means drivers have to remember the number assigned to their space and then log in the information on a keypad. Then they have to decide whether to pay with a credit card, debit card or coins, and finally they have to figure out how to select how much time they want.

About 100 of the meters will be installed on waterfront property controlled by the Port of San Francisco by early this month - stretching from Fisherman's Wharf to just south of the Giants ballpark.

Eventually, 6,000 metered spaces - or about a quarter of the city's pay-to-park curbside spots - will be brought into the pilot project over the next two years. Also included will be some 11,500 spaces in city-owned lots.

They'll take some getting used to. On a recent weekend, one woman on her way to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, hit the "maximum" time button out of frustration. Her credit card was charged $12.

"Argh" was all she said that is appropriate to print in this family newspaper.

The aggravation, however, is expected to be short-lived, city officials say, as better instructions are posted and people become more accustomed to electronic, multispace meters, which already are in use in Oakland, Berkeley, Redwood City, Seattle and scores of other cities across the country.

What's different about San Francisco is that the meters are a vital tool in the city's effort to use parking to tame traffic congestion.

The $25 million SFpark experiment will be the nation's first large trial to use parking pricing to alter drivers' behavior. The federal government, looking for new approaches to combat congestion and air pollution, kicked in $18 million.

Here's how the program will work: The city will set parking prices at curbside meters and in city lots based on anticipated demand. When and where demand is expected to be high, the price will be raised; when demand is low, the price will be dropped.

The idea is that people will be less likely to drive if it costs them more.

Officials seek to almost always have at least one spot on a block available at any given time so drivers don't have to keep cruising for parking.

Initially in San Francisco, the price will be adjusted gradually and differ by location and time of day.

In some areas, where few metered parking spaces fill up, the time limits will be extended. For example, once the new meters are activated on the Embarcadero south of Bryant Street, people will be able to park their cars during the day for up to 12 hours at a stretch and pay $1 an hour. The price will drop to 25 cents an hour between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Those same meters, however, will jump in price to $4 an hour when the Giants are playing at home.

Eventually, real-time parking information will be posted on electronic street signs and the Internet.

After the meters are installed on the waterfront, there will be more tests of the parking strategy this fall, said Jay Primus, who manages SFpark for the Municipal Transportation Agency.

Meanwhile, he and port staff members are busy making tweaks to the first group of meters, simplifying the payment instructions with new signs and stickers. On a recent afternoon, Primus and a port manager watched as motorists approached a new meter.

First up was Rojas, who struggled to work the machine until a city official intervened.

Next was John Wiegand of Burlingame. He had trouble inserting his credit card properly. Once he figured it out, he gave the system high marks.

"It sure beats having to carry so many quarters," he said.

I hate this city.

[jimmy olsen]

Man that's gotta be annoying as hell.

[Darth Wagtaros]

That's awful.

[The Brain]

Ah, old style coin parking meters. Oh early 80s how I miss thee!

[DGuller]

About time something like this were tried.  The way parking spaces are typically allocated in congested cities is shockingly, horrifyingly inefficient.  Think of all the cost in time, gas, and congestion due to being unable to find a parking spot.  I wish there was congestion parking pricing system in NYC every time I waste half an hour circling the neighborhood trying to find a parking spot.

[DGuller]

That's awful.

What's awful, the attempt to cut down on the vast economic and environmental inefficiencies?

[DisturbedPervert]

Sounds like a good idea.

[The Brain]

That's awful.

What's awful, the attempt to cut down on the vast economic and environmental inefficiencies?

SF

[Neil]

Supply and demand comes to parking, does it?

Well, that's what happens when you maintain your horribly inefficient infrastructure.

[frunk]

We have them in town, they are a pain.  Remembering your lot number, finding the pay machine, waiting in line if there's a crowd, getting the thing to work properly...

It'll suck, don't worry.

[The Brain]

A buddy from northern Sweden told me about the first time he parked in a parking house in central Stockholm. He expected to pay some some tens of SEK for 4-5 hours. LOL

[Grey Fox]

We have this here, well the Electronic thing atleast. It's much more easy to operate then having to find 10$ in quarters.

Idea #435682 is good.

[DGuller]

A buddy from northern Sweden told me about the first time he parked in a parking house in central Stockholm. He expected to pay some some tens of SEK for 4-5 hours. LOL

It sure beats not being able to find a spot at all.

[The Brain]

A buddy from northern Sweden told me about the first time he parked in a parking house in central Stockholm. He expected to pay some some tens of SEK for 4-5 hours. LOL

It sure beats not being able to find a spot at all.

The idea that parking fees shouldn't follow supply and demand is odd.

[Barrister]

A buddy from northern Sweden told me about the first time he parked in a parking house in central Stockholm. He expected to pay some some tens of SEK for 4-5 hours. LOL

hilarious.