UP TO 18 bucks an hour to park at meters in SF for special events!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_locals...fees-to-hit-sf

Wouldn't it be fun if the rate tripled AFTER you had parked and left your car?

It's all about the almighty dollar

Although I think this experiment is futile and will burden parkers more than help them, the system for changing rates will not trap drivers who paid for parking at a lower rate.

I completely agree but also good to hear that once you pay, you're considered paid as can you imagine the "ruckus"....."I put in 4 quarters for an hour's worth of parking and I get a ticket because the rates went up after I paid?"

Let's let the experiment run its course

$18 an hour.. I thought YYC parking was high.. but this one takes the cake I guess. I hope the experiment fails.

It's not $18 per hour. It's UP TO $18 per hour, depending on demand.

I was addressing the potential of $18 per hour.. all cities have ranges as well, but not high as the high which SF has set it at.

If people are willing to pay $18/hr, why not?

I am not generally in favor of dynamic pricing but I suppose a case can be made when there's a scarce resource, it's one way to allocate it.

My complaint on the parking plan specifically (and I rarely if ever drive within SF so it's not personal) is that how would a sometime-driver or tourist to SF know what level of special event was being charged? Outside of one-tie things like America's Cup, are they going to up the price based on factors like
number of Symphony tickets sold that night, or some computation based on day of the week and event? If it's a regular thing people will sadly get used to it,., but if it can fluctuate day to day or evening to evening it's unfair to those who need to calculate costs for the evening and it will definitely deter tourism in popular areas.

Plus it's not like they will use the extra money to get MUNI running on time...or more cleanly.

This is already the situation in the absence of dynamic pricing for street parking. At present, in many of the city's busier neighborhoods, there are few, if any street parking spaces available (in some neighborhoods, this is due to a lack of residential parking, so residents simply leave their cars parked on the public streets and move them only for street sweeping--but those are streets where parking isn't charged...).

Anyway, at present, the one-time tourist, if he/she actually takes a car, often must use structure parking--and I suspect few know what structure parking costs prior to driving. Dynamic pricing for street parking won't change that situation, although it is intended to create a situation where up to 15% of street spaces are available for parking. If implemented consistently, it might expand the private structure parking market.

This is one of those concepts which undoubtedly read much more persuasively in a 60-page PowerPoint proposal than will work well in practice.

Right now, it's in testing in only a few areas in S.F. -- at the very time that all Bay Area law enforcement is on a citation campaign against distracted driving (i.e., drivers who are texting or reading computer screens while they drive. Of course, the way to find available spaces in the test areas without driving around looking for them is to: consult the website or a smart phone display

My understanding of the concept for demand pricing for events, would be one identical bump for a recurring event in the area such as a Symphony or Ballet; and another identical bump for a Giants game. If it were a one-time, special, huge event, like an Elton John concert, that would also get a bump and could be the biggest bump. I don't think the technology is sophisticated to slice-and-dice the success (ticket sales) of an event. Then there will be non-event daily pricing which will change less frequently (once every three or six months), with bases for times of day.

The only way which anyone could know the parking price before pulling up to the space, would be if it were displayed on the website info for that zone.

I guess that they can do this now that the meters accept credit card, otherwise who the heck carries around that many quarters.

True.. If its that easy to pay.. people will pay a premium for the convenience.