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Place
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4689
City and County of San Francisco
Legislation Details
File #:
Version:
1
130985
Name:
Formal Policy Discussions - October 8, 2013
Status:
Type:
Hearing
Filed
File created:
In control:
10/2/2013
Board of Supervisors
On agenda:
Final action:
10/8/2013
10/8/2013
Enactment date:
Enactment #:
Title:
Pursuant to Charter, Sections 2.103 and 3.100(7), and Administrative Code, Section 2.11, the Mayor
shall answer the following eligible question submitted from the Supervisor representing District 8. The
Mayor may address the Board initially for up to five minutes. Discussion shall not exceed five minutes
per Supervisor.
1. Mr. Mayor, we recently held a hearing at the Land Use and Economic Development Committee on
the issue of illegal double parking in San Francisco - including its impacts on traffic, Muni, cycling, and
pedestrians - and the City’s enforcement policies and practices. While some might say that double
parking is an innocent infraction, it can create traffic jams and block Muni. On our light rail vehicle
lines, a single double parker can effectively shut down the line, since LRVs cannot swerve off of their
tracks to get around the double parker. Moreover, double parking often occurs in bike lanes, causing
cyclists to have to swerve into traffic, and double parking near crosswalks reduces pedestrian safety
by blocking sight lines. While double parking is at times appropriate - for example a delivery truck that
has no other option or a paratransit vehicle dropping off its passengers - double parking in San
Francisco has become the wild west. All sorts of vehicles - taxis, private autos, delivery trucks - seem
to park in the middle of the street whenever they want and even when there is space to pull over.
At the hearing, we heard from the Municipal Transportation Agency and the Police Department that
double parking enforcement outside of the downtown core is infrequent. For example, on the entirety
of 16th Street - which goes through multiple dense commercial areas - on average one double parking
citation is issued every other day. On the entirety of Castro and Divisadero Streets, on average one
citation is issued each day. At the same time that very few double parking citations are issued outside
of the downtown core, MTA is engaging in periodic saturation ticketing in our neighborhoods for minor
infractions like not curbing wheels on a slight grade or vehicle protruding an inch onto a sidewalk from
a driveway. In other words, MTA is engaging in significant enforcement of minor infractions while not
enforcing an infraction - double parking - that has serious impacts in our neighborhoods.
Mr. Mayor, what will you do to ensure that double parking enforcement is a priority where it impacts
transit riders, pedestrians, and cyclists? What specific goals and metrics do you propose we establish
to ensure that the most impactful double parking behavior becomes an enforcement priority for the
MTA and the Police Department? Will your office agree to report back in a year on the city’s stepped
up enforcement efforts against double parking?
Sponsors:
Attachments:
1. Board_Packet_100813
Action By
Date
Action
Result
Ver.
ASSIGNED
President
10/2/2013
1
HEARD AND FILED
Board of Supervisors
10/8/2013
1