It's time for San Francisco to charge more for short-term parking
Among San Francisco's efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, it has been studying raising parking fees to market rates for all categories of parking. These rates provide a "stick" to discourage driving, but equally important, San Francisco uses most parking revenues to finance the "carrot" - better transit service. This unusual arrangement provides about 25% of the city's transit funding.
In the past, the city has maintained low short-term parking fees in city garages and lots - lower than long-term hourly fees - as a means of maintaining neighborhood and downtown commercial viability. Today, however, much shopping, eating out, and entertainment is accomplished via transit, and higher parking fees can be expected to induce more transit use at times when transit has available capacity.
The new Muni budget already includes increases in the price of Fast Passes and will probably also include increases in all other fares. These increases are required to cover previously known increases in costs as well as recently increased "chargebacks" (funding transfers to reimburse Muni-related services performed by other city agencies). To avoid service cuts, and to move forward with the Transit Effectiveness Project, Muni needs even more funding. It must maximize parking revenues.
Muni is studying market-rate fees in city-owned garages and at meters. This may well mean that short-term rates rise above long-term ones. Muni's past policy with short-term fees has hewn closely to the Sierra Club ideal that one hour of parking should cost as much as two Muni adult fares. This budget cycle, if fares increase to $2, as at many other transit agencies, each hour of parking should increase from its current $2.50 or $3 up to $4. The higher fee would still be well below short-term parking fees at nearby private garages, which are about $6 an hour.
The concept of "market rate" parking fees has been popularized among parking agencies around the country by Professor Donald Shoup of UCLA in The High Cost of Free Parking. Shoup argues for setting the cost of parking high enough to keep about 15% of available parking spaces vacant - so that a driver seeking a space, and willing to pay, can easily find one near their destination. This approach maximizes the convenience of driver-shoppers, just as private garages and parking lots try to increase their fees to a level that maximizes profit.
Shoup also recommends using the extra funds to improve the commercial ambiance. Indeed, San Francisco does this, since the additional funds are used for transit, which reduces congestion.
The Sierra Club also recommends congestion pricing (charging higher rates at hours of higher parking demand) and smart parking-management methods for all public parking spaces, and for all public and private garages. This could include a surcharge for drivers who enter or leave a garage or parking space during peak hours.