The days of free parking on Sundays are numbered. The new two year budget approved on Tuesday by San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials will extend parking meter hours to Sunday, a move that’s expected to net around $900,000 in additional revenue during the first year alone. Pay meters will now be enforced between the hours of noon and 6pm, with the city adding an extra 500 to 1,000 meters in coming months.
Although the move makes financial sense when you consider the Municipal Transportation Agency was facing a serious deficit, many local churches had campaigned vocally against extending meters to include Sunday. However, in an interview with SF Public Press, Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin defended modernizing “antiquated parking policies,” suggesting that extending parking hours would free up additional spaces in commercial neighborhoods where finding a spot [on Sundays] can be next to impossible due to drivers who park all day.
Fortunately, the new budget wasn’t all doom and gloom. In fact, the board did approve a new pilot program that will provide low-income children between the ages of 5 and 17 access to free transit passes. Despite initial discussions over extending free Fast Passes to all kids under 18, the board ultimately decided it would be too costly, and instead opted to focus specifically on low-income youth.
Assuming the budget receives approval from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the new initiatives would go into effect on August 1, 2012.
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