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Board approves temporary free parking, Free Muni for Lunar New Year parade; Chan and colleagues tout small-business boost
Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance to fund free two-hour parking at Portsmouth Square garage in February to support Chinatown businesses and backed a weekend of Free Muni during the Lunar New Year parade, measures supporters called a tested, short-term incentive to boost transit ridership and neighborhood commerce.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved measures to provide short-term parking relief for Chinatown businesses and to support free Muni service for Lunar New Year parade events.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer were among cosponsors thanked by the item's sponsor, Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer (transcribed as "Chan" during the meeting), who told colleagues she worked with SFMTA to provide free two-hour parking in Portsmouth Square garage for February and to coordinate free Muni on parade weekend to encourage transit use and support small businesses.
"Chinatown small businesses have been severely impacted by the pandemic and anti-Asian racism," Supervisor Chan said. "Providing free parking and a Free Muni weekend was an experiment to encourage people to come back and celebrate safely and support merchants." She and other supervisors praised SFMTA for moving quickly and produced early ridership data indicating modest gains.
SFMTA preliminary numbers presented at the hearing showed Saturday ridership increased by about 10% and Sunday ridership by about 7% compared to the seven weeks prior to the Free Muni weekend. Supporters said the combination of targeted free parking and free transit provided multiple, complementary access options for visitors to Chinatown.
The ordinance passed on first reading and, in a separate roll call for item 9, the board ultimately recorded a 10-1 final vote on the gardens ordinance referenced earlier (with Supervisor Peskin recorded as the lone no vote on a separate parks fee item). The parking-and-transit supplemental measure was taken along with related items and advanced.
What supporters said: Supervisors Jonathan Preston and Ahsha Safaie (transcribed as "Safaie") said the approach gave riders and merchants a choice and represented a low-cost, short-term trial to evaluate whether free transit and parking could help boost neighborhood commerce and reduce dependence on private vehicles. Supervisor Preston called the Free Muni trial a promising experiment for downtown events.
What opponents said: In formal votes discussed in the consent or earlier roll calls, one other park-related ordinance drew a single no vote; the Free Muni/parking measures themselves received broad board support at first reading.
Ending: The board advanced the free parking and Free Muni measures and asked SFMTA and sponsor offices to track ridership and economic indicators and report back on results, including whether the trial merits possible future repetition or expansion to other neighborhoods.
