Pay or Permit Parking Expansion Project

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees parking and all ground transportation in the City, established Pay or Permit Parking as a new regulation type in 2018 to reform the longstanding Residential Parking Permit (RPP) program. Pay or Permit Parking combines the benefits of residential parking restrictions with the benefits of paid parking by creating more parking availability, it makes it easier for residents and visitors to park, while preserving the residential preference and generating revenue to support transit service. 

Pay or Permit Parking which was first approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors in 2018, combines the benefits of RPP and paid parking. On blocks with Pay or Permit Parking, RPP permitholders for the area on the sign don't have to pay to park at the nearby paystation on the block; they park for free for an unlimited time, as they would in a traditional RPP area. Visitors parking in the area pay for the time they'd like to park their vehicle at a paystation or with a mobile device, rather than being restricted by a time limit.  

The SFMTA first implemented Pay or Permit Parking in late 2022 in portions of the Hayes Valley neighborhood, where it has been successful in managing parking demand and improve parking availability, which has positive impacts on congestion, air quality, and overall urban mobility in a dense, centrally located area of San Francisco. SFMTA staff are continually monitoring conditions in the area and preparing a formal evaluation of Pay or Permit Parking in Hayes Valley for release later this year. 

Benefits of Pay or Permit Parking 

Pay or Permit Parking combines SFMTA’s two most successful tools for managing parking: RPP and paid parking.  Some notable benefits of Pay or Permit Parking include:

• Instead of a parking time limit, visitors to a neighborhood pay to park their vehicles just like they would on a typical paid parking block.   
• Removing time limits allows guests to stay in the area for longer than two hours if they need to.  At the same time, the payment requirement ensures that people stay only as long as they need, and then make their space available to the next person who can use it.  The parking on most RPP blocks close to commercial corridors is primarily occupied by non-residents, many of whom stay longer than the posted time limit. 
• Residents, guests of residents, teachers, and other drivers who qualify for RPP permits can still park for free all day, just like on a time-limited block.  
• Pay or Permit Parking improves the effectiveness of enforcement, eliminating the need for two passes to identify a violation.  

Pay or Permit Expansion Project Neighborhoods

In 2023, SFMTA received a $1.5 million Local Parking Management Capital and Implementation Grant that pays for installing over 260 paystations to extend this regulation into more areas. As part of the grant, MTC will study the congestion and air quality impacts of the regulation. The neighborhoods currently being studied for inclusion in this project are: 

• The Marina 
• Cow Hollow/Union Street Corridor 
• Lower Haight
• Other Hayes Valley blocks not included in the original project 

These neighborhoods were selected due to their high parking occupancy, high percentage of non-permitholders parked at the curb, and proximity to high-demand commercial corridors. The SFMTA may study other neighborhoods based on community interest.