While you were sleeping, at 12:00 AM on July 1, SFMTA raised the amounts that parking and traffic tickets will cost you by an average of roughly ten percent.
Here are some of the highlights:
A meter violation downtown will now cost you $72.
Parking in a yellow zone will now cost you $83
Obstructing traffic without a permit will now cost you $519.
A bus zone violation will now cost you $287.
A misused, forged, or expired disabled placard, along with other blue zone violations will cost you $966. I would be okay if this one jumped to $9600.
MUNI fare evasion now will cost you $103. If you evade the fare 50 times and then get caught, you've broken even.
Wrong way parking will now cost you $57 (Heed the warning you folks in Bernal Heights).
Blocking a bicycle path will now cost you $113.
Residential parking violations will now cost you $72.
Getting towed will now cost you a minimum of $453.75.
In the "public policy is stranger than fiction" category:
The fine for speeding in a parking facility has decreased from $105 to $100.
The fine for passing in a safety zone was not increased, nor was driving illegally through a parade (both remain at $100). In comparison, wiping the chalk off of your tire will now set you back $110.
The fine for parking in a tunnel ($57) and parking on public grounds ($67) are still less expensive than parking in a yellow zone ($83), or at an expired meter ($72), and still remain some of the least expensive parking options in SF.
And my personal favorite, parking in the middle of railroad tracks and blocking a train, has modestly increased to only $88 and is still cheaper than both blocking a driveway which jumped up to $98, and parking on a sidewalk which will now cost you $110.
To see the entire list of SF parking and traffic fine increases for fiscal year 2012-2013, click here.