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San Francisco may extend the operating hours of parking meters until midnight, and all day on Sundays. (Ben Margot/ Associated Press) |
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco’s transportation agency, projecting a multimillion-dollar deficit, is proposing a way to ease the city’s parking crunch. It wants to extend parking meter hours - as late as midnight in the trendiest neighborhoods, and on Sundays everywhere.
Those who already find it hard to park on the streets in the daytime are not happy.
The move would raise more than $8 million a year, free up more parking spots, and help business, says the San Francisco Metropolitan Transit Agency. But San Francisco is in for a battle if the fate of similar measures in other cities is any indication.
Just across the Bay Bridge, the Oakland City Council is still smarting after it extended parking meters by two hours and increased rates and fines. That led to such a revolt that the new rules were rescinded last month, three months after they took effect.
Earlier this year, when Chicago, desperate for revenue, leased its parking meter system for 75 years to
In San Francisco, opponents include small-business owners, residents in commercial areas, and Mayor Gavin Newsom.
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