[Carfreeliving] sidewalk parking again

[Jason Henderson]

So the other day (Monday) I was riding on Page St and all kinds of cars 
were pulling up on the sidewalk to wait for the street cleaner (which 
was far away). Meanwhile there was a lot of pedestrian traffic forced 
into the street with a lot of idiotic speeding motorists rushing to get 
to the freeway ramp. This was also within two blocks of John Muir School 
and kids were walking to school(safe routes to what?) As I walked on, I 
came across a DPT officer ticketing a car parked in a regular parking 
space, and I asked if they would ticket cars on the sidewalk, especially 
the ones egregiously unattended. At first she would not respond to me 
because she was busy writing the ticket (took about 3 minutes and I was 
timing my commute to be on time). I waited a litle longer and she told 
me that they have an unofficial policy to not ticket cars on sidewalks 
when street sweeping. Ever heard of that? So basically you can move your 
car on the sidewalk and not get ticketed, but if you leave it on the 
street, you get a ticket.

Then today I called in two large dooley-type double cab pickups 
completely blocking Haight sidewalk. I mean completely blocking the 
entire sidewalk, not half way. About an hour later, a DPT officer came 
and seemed to be buddy-buddy with the guys blocking the sidewalk. There 
were available parking spaces just about 20 feet away. Basically, one 
truck moved to block in the driveway and the other scooted in just 
enough for a single ped to squeeze by (no baby strollers will fit, etc). 
No ticket issued. The DPT guy even helped these guys move heavy 
materials and while they did this I counted about 6 people forced into 
the street to go around.

Now, I called this back in just now, and dispatch said they would send 
somebody back out, but really, come on. Why do I have to call twice?

Over the years I have taken a lot of time to make these calls and a lot 
of time stopping and trying to be diplomatic and follow the rules. I do 
not have enough time to follow up on this and every time this happens - 
which is every day.  Calling DPT seems futile. But I want the sidewalks 
clear because it is vital to a livable city and is about social justice 
for the elderly, children, and disabled. Yet look what happens when you 
do call.

What exactly is the policy about sidewalk parking? Is it just a joke? 
Does this mean I can stand in the street and block traffic when there is 
a car blocking the sidewalk.

By the way, I can't wait for the SFSU semester to start next week, 
becasue the Holloway bike lane becomes such a convenient standing area 
for cars. What a joke that is. I have wasted a lot of time calling about 
that too.

-jh



-- 
"Make wetlands not war"

Jason Henderson
Native New Orleanian
living in San Francisco
Cell: (415)-425-5844
Home: (415)-255-8136