LEGISLATIVE ANALYST MEMORANDUM

To: Members of the Board of Supervisors

From: Shauna Johnson, Office of the Legislative Analyst

Date: June 1, 2005

Re: Employee Suggestion – Draft legislation imposing a parking fine on vehicles taking up more than one parking space (OLA No. 038-05K)

Employee Suggestion

An employee suggests drafting legislation that imposes a parking fine on vehicles taking up more than one space.

Executive Summary

The Office of the Legislative Analyst (OLA) found that the Traffic Code currently prohibits parked vehicles from occupying more than one space. The Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) enforces this provision and issues associated tickets. The Board of Supervisors has the authority to establish and modify fines. There is currently an ordinance (File No. 050901) pending before the Board that would make various changes to the parking fine schedule, which includes an increase in the penalty charged for failure to park within a designated space from $25 to $35. The OLA recommends that the Board of Supervisors direct the Department of Parking and Traffic to report on the incidence of parking outside of designated spaces and the costs and benefits of increasing enforcement of its prohibition.

Analysis

Parking Spaces

According to the Traffic Code, lines or other appropriate markings usually designate parking spaces in parking lots and on some streets. Some streets (primarily residential) do not have designated parking spaces, so drivers have limited autonomy over where they park their automobiles. A small percentage of all parking spaces in the City (including public and private on-street and off-street parking) are designated with markings.

Current Law

According to the Traffic Code, "it is a violation for vehicles to stop, stand or park other than in a regularly designated parking space, across any such line or marking, or in such position that said vehicle shall not be entirely within the designated parking space area." This applies to both on-street spaces (TC58C) and off-street spaces (TC32.14), public and private. Citations for violating either of these codes result in a $25 fine (Traffic Code section 132 lists the parking fine penalty schedule). The Board of Supervisors has the authority to set fines for various parking related violations. An ordinance (File No. 050901) was introduced in May 2005 that is pending before the Board that would increase penalties for various parking related violations, including increasing the fine for parking outside of a designated space from $25 to $35.

Enforcement

DPT issues roughly 2 million parking citations annually. Of those, 2,000 (0.1%) were issued (between May 1, 2004 and April 30, 2005) to vehicles parked outside of a designated space. For comparison, over the same period 770,578 (39%) citations were issued for violations related to street sweeping (TC37C). DPT rarely enforces parking regulations on private parking lots, other than that prohibiting parking in a handicapped designated parking space. Therefore, the prohibition against parking outside of designated spaces is primarily enforced for on-street parking and at the 19 City-owned, off-street lots.

Recommendation

The OLA recommends that the Board of Supervisors direct the Department of Parking and Traffic to report on the incidence of parking outside of designated spaces and the costs and benefits of increasing enforcement of its prohibition.