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SFMTA board approves higher mobile parking convenience fee, asks staff for six-month review
Summary
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board approved raising the mobile parking app convenience fee to 35¢ (with authority up to 39¢ by contract) to match vendor transaction costs, and directed staff to return with a six-month report on usage and revenue options.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board on June 3 approved raising the mobile parking payment convenience fee to 35¢ and authorized staff to align future increases with the vendors’ transaction-fee schedule up to 39¢ over the life of the contracts. The board also directed staff to return with a presentation about usage elasticity and other parking revenue options roughly six months after the fee goes into effect.
The measure amends Transportation Code section 402 to increase the convenience fee charged to customers who pay by mobile parking apps. Rob Malone, a staff member in SFMTA’s Parking and Operations Group, told the board the action would align the fee customers pay with the per-transaction amount the agency will pay vendors under new contracts so the agency “will not have a net cost to the agency for that transaction fee.” Malone said the agency began charging a 10¢ convenience fee on May 20 and the new contracts call for vendor transaction payments of 35¢ per transaction.
Board members pressed staff on alternatives and impacts. Vice Chair Kahina asked whether staff modeled smaller increments; Malone said roughly 6,000,000 mobile-app transactions occur annually and “every 1¢ is about $60,000,” assuming no change in customer behavior. Director Hemminger asked about full cost recovery; staff said card issuer “merchant fees” average about 25¢ per transaction, so fully recovering both vendor and merchant fees could approach roughly 60¢ per transaction. Several board members urged caution about deterring app use and recommended monitoring impacts.
The board debated timing and oversight. Members discussed an amendment to require staff to return with data and options; Director Hemminger proposed a time-limited approval (a sunset or review deadline) to concentrate staff analysis. The board ultimately approved a motion to adopt the fee while directing staff to present elasticity and revenue-option findings in approximately six months (staff said they would aim for a late-fall presentation).
Staff emphasized the fee is optional to customers who prefer to pay at the meter: “anyone who doesn’t want to pay it can walk to the meter and pay with cash or card,” Malone said. City Attorney Cleveland Knowles and staff warned there are legal and contract constraints about charging different prices by payment method and that additional legal review would be needed for any fee structure beyond the version before the board.
The motion passed on a roll-call vote recorded as unanimous: Directors Chen, Felder, Hemminger, Henderson, Hinsley, Hinze, Kahina and Chair Tarloff voted aye.
The board did not adopt a fixed short-term sunset; instead it required a staff presentation in about six months on demand elasticity, alternative fee or base-rate options, and other parking revenue measures the agency could pursue. Staff said the new vendor contracts have a maximum six-year term in modeling that assumes the vendor transaction fee would increase in later contract years to 37¢ and 39¢.
