Originally Posted by channa

Remember it's not a straight meter, they use the central machine. Parking is also not by the hour, it's by the day.

So it's fairly likely that by 2:45 p.m., you're getting someone's spot who vacated previously (and already paid).

They would have to prove the spot went unpaid all day, and you took it, in order to back a ticket.

I don't think that's how it works.

If I had to guess, BART Police probably checks the machine sometime after rush hour, gets a report of unpaid spots, and starts writing tickets. Once a day, low budget.

The chance of that happening at 2:45 p.m. exactly is quite low.