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Board requests 60‑day MTA plan after hearing on rampant double parking
Summary
Supervisors heard MTA data showing mixed citation trends, staffing impacts and targeted details; the committee asked MTA for a 60‑day plan to ensure consistent double‑parking enforcement and accepted that engineering, education and enforcement must be combined.
The committee held an oversight hearing on double parking and pressed the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for a concrete plan to provide consistent enforcement across the city.
Supervisor Scott Wiener opened the discussion by calling double parking "absolutely rampant" and citing repeated incidents where a single double‑parked vehicle can gridlock blocks or shut down a Muni line. "It is not uncommon to see a double parked vehicle in a bike lane," he said, adding that enforcement must be scaled.
Cameron Sammy, enforcement manager for the MTA, reviewed California Vehicle Code provisions and said commercial vehicles have limited exceptions for active loading but passenger vehicles face no such discretion. Sammy presented citation trends from 2010–2014, noted temporary staffing shortfalls had reduced citations in parts of 2013–2014, and reported that bike‑lane blocking citations rose even while overall double‑parking citations fluctuated. "If there are no places to go, they're not creating a hazard," Sammy said in explaining the code's limited loading exception, and described targeted enforcement details and operator education as part of the agency response.
Supervisors asked for specificity on enforcement resources and whether SFPD and MTA staffing was sufficient; Sammy said the agency is developing optimization tools and would prepare a defensible plan to identify the resource level needed. Supervisor Wiener asked for a report in 60 days describing what would be required for consistent enforcement; MTA agreed.
Public commenters, including the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, urged more protected bike lanes, expanded loading zones and civilian reporting tools (photo reports via 311). Some speakers argued fines should better reflect system costs to deter repeat violations; others proposed engineering changes and more targeted loading zones as longer‑term remedies.
Supervisor Wiener moved to continue Item 3 to the call of the chair with a 60‑day report from the MTA on enforcement resource needs; Supervisor Kim seconded and the motion passed without objection.
