New Parking Policy at Coit Tower - DPT Doesn't Enforce It

Coit Tower, it's a historical landmark that represents our proud city, has gorgeous views of the Bay, and the famous wild parrots in the trees.

But as a result of the popularity and we are currently in the peak of tourist season, Coit Tower is known for a heck of lot of headaches. Parking is next to impossible during daytime hours, many drivers decide to park in illegal spots, and traffic along the only road (Telegraph) can be pretty congested. Idiots like the SUV driver below, doesn't mind driving over a pile of wood chips the city placed there.

Just yesterday, the SFMTA's press office published a news release to start their second year of the summer pilot program where only neighborhood residents are permitted to park at Coit Tower's parking lot during weekends (using a special permit). The SFMTA is encouraging all tourists and visitors to take Muni's 39-Coit line to the landmark.

The goal is to prevent the heavy congestion on Telegraph which results in major delays of up to 15-20 minutes for the 39-Coit bus and the carbon emissions from cars idling and driving in circles around the parking lot.

Good idea, help the NIMBYs out by giving them some parking access. But that's not my concern, it's trying to even enforce the parking policy in the first place.

• Last summer, I visited Coit Tower at least three times on the weekends and always took Muni to get there. Two of the three occasions, I was stuck on the Muni bus for 20 minutes because of the traffic to the parking lot.
• The DPT parking officers were NEVER there when I visited the area.
• During occasions when I arrived to Coit Tower, I'd see cars blanketed with parking tickets for failure to have the neighborhood parking permit, but the DPT officer never sticks around to help keep traffic flowing and boot out those double parked in the circle.
• I even called DPT enforcement to ask them why they are not enforcing policy, arguing the Muni buses are running 20 minutes late because of traffic. The asshole hung-up on me.
  

If the SFMTA wants to be serious about keeping traffic flowing around the area and keep the 39-Coit bus running on-time, get a parking officer up there during day hours on the weekends for the rest of the summer. Handing out pamphlets, informing the Visitor's Bureau, and spreading the word on your website won't prevent tourists (who can't read a sign in red letters) from violating the rules.