Does San Francisco's Smart Parking System Reduce Cruising for a Space?

Last week, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency released yet more evidence that the city's SFpark system has been a great success. SFpark changes meter rates based on parking demand to maintain an average occupancy between 60 and 80 percent: When parking on a street is too full (or too empty), the hourly price goes up (or down) to free up (or fill up) spaces. The goal is to distribute parking more evenly and, more critically, to reduce time spent cruising for a space.

By SFMTA's latest measures, SFpark hits all of its key marks. Prepare for the chart parade: City blocks with SFpark met their target occupancies much more often than they did before the system went into effect, especially compared with control blocks that aren't part of the system: