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San Bruno council hears update on paid‑parking rollout as residents report broken kiosks and tough appeals process
Summary
City staff told council about technical problems affecting roughly 14 of the city’s 83 parking kiosks and ongoing vendor troubleshooting; residents urged the city not to ticket motorists when machines are malfunctioning and asked for clearer payment options and equity safeguards.
City officials on Tuesday updated the San Bruno City Council on problems with the city’s newly expanded paid‑parking program and described steps to repair kiosks and improve the appeals process.
At a presentation led by police staff, officials said on‑street paid parking runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a two‑hour limit, and city parking lots operate roughly 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Staff reported multiple failure modes in the field — coin jams, vandalized machines, credit‑reader errors, solar‑charging shortfalls and intermittent cellular connections — and said roughly 14 of the city’s 83 kiosks were experiencing issues at the time of the update.
“The machines are supposed to go to sleep 30 seconds after transactions complete; there is a bug we’re troubleshooting with the vendor,” the presenting officer said, describing a software issue that can leave kiosks on and drain their solar batteries. Staff said four vandalized kiosks have been repaired and remaining parts are expected to be installed by the end of the week.
City staff also described the options available to drivers who get a citation they believe was issued in error: a web portal (www.pticket.com/SanBruno was provided on the slide) forwards appeals directly to the traffic sergeant for review, who may dismiss or uphold a citation after checking live kiosk status.
Residents and council members raised concerns about enforcement while kiosks remain unreliable. Jennifer Blanco told the council the rollout has been "very aggressive," described a recent downtown experience in which she and another driver encountered a nonworking machine, and urged the city not to ticket people who cannot pay because of broken equipment. "We shouldn't be ticketing our community," Blanco said, noting how tickets can disproportionately burden low‑income residents and parents with small children.
Private vendors and two companies that addressed the council during public comment proposed alternative or supplemental technology, including a pay‑by‑app approach that requires no new curb hardware and a hardware‑less, AI‑based system that its speaker said could dynamically manage curb usage without repainting zones.
Council members pressed staff for more data before making policy changes. One council member requested usage numbers for the newly metered El Camino corridor to determine whether spaces that appear empty should have been converted to paid parking. Staff said a deeper operational report is scheduled for the November meeting and that they will continue to work with the vendor to test alternate cellular providers, repair parts, and reposition machines to improve solar coverage.
Next steps: staff will continue repairs, pursue vendor fixes for the sleep/battery bug, and return with a fuller data report to the council in November. In the meantime, the city reiterated that motorists can submit citation appeals through the online portal for review by the traffic sergeant.
