Extended meter hours proposal gets heard todayBy Steven T. Jones
In a couple hours, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors will consider a controversial proposal to extend parking meter hours to evenings and Sundays, but it’s still unclear whether that body is inclined to take any action.
Alternative transportation and urban planning activists are excited about the chance to weigh in on a proposal that would raise nearly $9 million per year and begin to balance out the fare hikes and service cuts that Muni riders absorbed this year, while some motorists and business owners are likely to express their opposition.
Mayor Gavin Newsom has been expressing opposition to the item through the San Francisco Chronicle, but an item buried in yesterday’s Matier & Ross column seems to indicate that he’s backing off a bit, although they don’t seem to understand that this is a decision for the MTA board, not the Board of Supervisors.
As I’ve written before, this proposal will be a big test of whether the MTA board, whose seven members are all appointed by Newsom, is actually the independent agency capable of making tough decisions without regard to political consequences that the intent of 2007’s Proposition A, which gave them full authority over parking and public transit in San Francisco.
The meeting starts at 2 p.m. in City Hall’s Room 400, and the parking meter proposal follows a discussion of the agency’s deficit-plagued budget, appropriately enough.
P.S. Streetsblog SF has an excellent discussion of the proposal with parking guru Donald Shoup, who makes it clear why this study is so different for the meter rates increases in Oakland that caused such controversy.
digg •
del.icio.us •
sphere •
google
•
Comments (3)
Thanks for keeping us informed.
Posted by Darrow | October 20, 2009 01:29 PM
We hope that any discussion of parking meter hours will take into account the huge negative impact on neighborhood merchants as they enter the peak selling season. Longer meter hours will inevitably drive consumers away from local merchants and to chain-dominated shopping malls, both in and out of the city.
The 2007 San Francisco Retail Diversity Study underscored the economic impact of locally owned businesses, which reinvest in the city at a nearly 60% higher rate than big box stores (and much more when compared to online retailers). Many locally owned retailers have performed remarkably well in a tough economic climate; to offer any disincentive to shop at their stores is simply foolish. The success of neighborhood merchants offer the city a proven way to generate additional revenue and jobs.
Hut Landon
Executive Director
Northern California Independent Booksellers Association
Member, San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance
Posted by Hut Landon | October 20, 2009 03:42 PM
Lets hope that the Guardian "reporters" spout some ad hominem attack upon the way that someone looked or dressed when they spoke at the parking event.
I hope that we learn what a Guardian "reporter" thought about the looks of the people speaking, like when two people exercised their rights as citizens and spoke about illegal aliens a few weeks ago before some of the cities Board of supervisors.
Being unpopular in Sf means that the progressives can mock you, being unpopular nationwide as progressives are means that the rest of us are stupid.
Tell us Steve, like your crony did, how did the speakers look?
Posted by glen matlock | October 20, 2009 11:08 PM