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SFMTA Launches Online Protest Platform

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees transportation in the city, including the Municipal Railway (Muni), recently launched a new portal that allows customers to protest parking and transit violations online at www.sfmta.com/protest.

The new program will save time and increase the convenience of initiating a protest to contest citations. Under the former program, the first step in the protest process called administrative review could only begin once a written protest was received at the SFMTA Customer Service Center at 11 South Van Ness Avenue.

The new online process encourages customers to submit evidence related to a citation that could support their case. Examples of evidence include such items as a credit card receipt for meter payments, photographs of obscured signage or faded curb paint. Once a customer completes the online submittal form, they will receive a confirmation page which will also be sent to the customer via email.

“Getting a ticket is unpleasant enough,” said Ed Reiskin Director of Transportation. “By making the protest process more efficient through technology, we hope to reduce the need for customers to endure a burdensome paper process.”

Customers should allow six to eight weeks for a response from the date the protest was submitted. It may take longer if staff needs to complete a site visit in order to verify evidence such as obscured signage or faded curb paint.

Results of the administrative review will be mailed to the person submitting the protest. All other correspondence regarding payment due and collections will be mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner only. It is important to ensure that mailing information with the Department of Motor Vehicles is correctly and promptly updated.

For customers with limited or no internet access, requests for administrative review can still be made in writing to the customer service center.

Requests for hearings, which are the second step in the protest process and provide customers with a second opportunity to discuss their citation with a hearing officer, will continue to be accepted by written request only through U.S. mail or in-person at the SFMTA Customer Service Center.