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Find SF parking cops

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Re: Find SF parking cops

#161

Post by scottbez1 »

bahmboo wrote: post #86
scottbez1 wrote: post #61

Incredible work. I'm disappointed to see so many of the leaderboard items are street cleaning tickets. I get it - street cleaning are "easy" tickets to write in bulk, and therefore efficient ROI for PCO time, but they're not the most important violations to cite compared to safety-critical things like blocked bike lanes (which SFMTA has an official policy to completely ignore citizen reports thereof), double-parking,…

Where should the delivery trucks park if there is no infrastructure for them and the public has an ever increasing appetite for delivered products? Try to think about it from the delivery drivers point of view and their safety. The roads are not any one users exclusive resource. We all pay for them and they must be shared.

In commercial loading zones! We've allocated the color yellow for this in SF.

If commercial drivers petitioned SFMTA to convert more private parking spaces into commercial zones I'd be signing petitions and backing them in their goal 100% of the way.

But generally I've found that commercial drivers would rather just violate the law and endanger others rather than engaging in activism for better infrastructure on our streets, so it's hard to feel sorry for them if they're cited and fined as a result.

Re: Find SF parking cops

#162

Post by whakim »

gboss wrote: post #101
rahimnathwani wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's illegal in California but in San Francisco official policy is to not enforce this law. If there's no red paint on the curb, they won't ticket you. This is official policy: https://www.sfmta.com/blog/making-enforcement-fair-our-new-p...

It makes sense. It was ridiculous that they were originally proposing ticketing people without there being signage that it was illegal to park there. They need to just paint the curbs.

Why? Having a driver's license is a privilege that requires you to study and know the rules of the road. The onus is on you to know the rules.

Re: Find SF parking cops

#163

Post by tanseydavid »

scottbez1 wrote: post #126
gboss wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense. It was ridiculous that they were originally proposing ticketing people without there being signage that it was illegal to park there. They need to just paint the curbs.

Is it ridiculous to ticket someone who parks in the middle of Market St if there's no sign that it's illegal? No. Driving a car is a privilege, and a dangerous one at that, which requires a competency test. It is not unreasonable to expect licensed drivers to know the statewide laws that govern that privilege without reminder signs.

>> Is it ridiculous to ticket someone who parks in the middle of Market St if there's no sign that it's illegal?

I saw someone just parked in the right lane (of two) heading up California street at maybe Mason. Just sitting there reading a book.

Re: Find SF parking cops

#164

Post by JumpCrisscross »

MisterTea wrote: post #158
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How are small restaurants going to get their ingredients delivered if delivery trucks can’t park? The only city where this is a problem is New York, because we don’t have alleys in our densest neighbourhoods. And in New York, our solution is for folks to park illegally and the meter maids to print tickets which are treated as a business expense. In San Francisco, park in an alley, deliver at night, or park away fro…

> And in New York, our solution is for folks to park illegally, the meter maids to print tickets which are treated as a business expense. Its a sad game that has to be played. Used to have a family business and a good chunk of our business was in Manhattan. The fucking parking games were insane and it got to the point where we gave up and started charging a Manhattan fee that was the cost of a parking ticket. Another…

> It's such a bozo city sometimes

It’s a weird little ecosystem. If tickets were made more expensive, parking in lots and having smaller vehicles (probably bikes) fan out would make sense. If they were cheaper, you wouldn’t have all the meter maids.

As a former Manhattan resident, I have to say, this was never a point of frustration. The illegally parked trucks tended to make quick stops on two-lane roads. Contrast that with getting stuck behind a fucking garbage truck going cross town…

Re: Find SF parking cops

#165

Post by bahmboo »

andrepd wrote: post #114
bahmboo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where should the delivery trucks park if there is no infrastructure for them and the public has an ever increasing appetite for delivered products? Try to think about it from the delivery drivers point of view and their safety. The roads are not any one users exclusive resource. We all pay for them and they must be shared.

Bike lanes reduce the number of cars on the road and therefore make it easier for vehicles that are actually necessary (delivery, work, emergency, etc) to travel and park, not harder. So do all viable alternatives to driving. That in 2025 people still unironically say "just one more lane bro, and we'll solve traffic" is almost unbelievable.

Ok. I understand bike lanes. I didn't say anything about more lanes, bro. I am talking about delivery vehicles and the challenges they face in urban environments. Keep in mind that a delivery driver can spend as much time on foot as they do in their vehicle. This means interacting with vehicles and bikes as a laden pedestrian. They are compromised and it can be dangerous.

Re: Find SF parking cops

#166

Post by scottbez1 »

hahahacorn wrote: post #78
scottbez1 wrote: post #61

Incredible work. I'm disappointed to see so many of the leaderboard items are street cleaning tickets. I get it - street cleaning are "easy" tickets to write in bulk, and therefore efficient ROI for PCO time, but they're not the most important violations to cite compared to safety-critical things like blocked bike lanes (which SFMTA has an official policy to completely ignore citizen reports thereof), double-parking,…

On principle, I agree. In practice, delivery vehicles don't have a place to safely stop, because that space is allocated to free street parking for private vehicles. Subsidized street parking for cars are externalizing their costs onto UPS/Fedex/Amazon, etc. who are then passing that cost along to the safety of the public.

Yep! Market rate for private parking, and offering subsidized short-term commercial parking (which generally has broader societal benefit than private parking) with appropriate safeguards for abuse would be great!

Re: Find SF parking cops

#167

Post by Dylan16807 »

goopypoop wrote: post #156
vhcr wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is solved with better infrastructure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_extension

the picture on that article looks like a nice stripy parking space

A car could push into the first third of it, but visibility would be fine in that case. Trying to use the whole thing in a car would mean you're jutting into the traffic lane, and anyone willing to do that is causing bigger problems. And if a bike parks in the stripes that's fine for visibility too.

Re: Find SF parking cops

#168

Post by khuey »

smegma2 wrote: post #84
jakelazaroff wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The loserboard I'd be interested in is which license plates consistently receive the most tickets.

It exists: https://www.sfmta.com/media/9654/download?inline

This appears to be a list of overpayments they haven't been able to refund, not a ranking of total fines to any given plate.

Re: Find SF parking cops

#169

Post by godelski »

vhcr wrote: post #85
RyanOD wrote: post #64

Where I live, many people park at intersections right up to the curb making it almost impossible to see oncoming traffic from the right or left. Really scary when you have a 16-year old driver you're trying to keep safe. There is a very real reason why most intersections require drivers to park 20-30 feet away. Please think of the safety of others and adhere to this rule.

This is solved with better infrastructure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_extension

Great solution but until then I think the gp's point still stands.

We as humans need to ensure our actions are done with care are forethought. You can't control others but you can control yourself and influence others (like this comment attempts to do)

Plus, it's a lot cheaper for all of us if we don't need to constantly redesign once someone figures out how to "beat the game" (see Goodhart's Law). We're social creatures and the Tragedy of the Commons is a much more common occurrence than people think, especially in large cities.

Our actions affect others.

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