San Francisco Rolls Out Dynamic Parking Rate Model

Government Technology: Cost-conscious drivers in San Francisco may want to think twice before pulling into that parking space on an unusually busy downtown street in the Financial District.

Like so much of life in cities now, no two parking spaces are necessarily equal. As of December, San Francisco has transitioned its SFpark pilot into a citywide program to set rates on all 28,000 parking spaces on public streets and 14 city-operated garages. The plan prices parking based on demand — not unlike the approach used by airlines to set fares or ride-hailing apps to set the price of a trip.

“Demand-responsive pricing,” as the concept is known, means “prices could fluctuate block by block, time-band by time-band, and then weekday versus weekend,” said Hank Wilson, parking policy manager for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

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