San Francisco expands real-time parking data system

San Francisco is expanding the volume and consistency of real-time parking data flowing into its citywide systems with the introduction of ParkMobile as an additional mobile payment option for its 26,000 on-street parking spaces.

The move supports the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) long-running effort to use integrated, meter-level information to guide pricing, compliance and kerb management across the city.

All meter and mobile transactions are transmitted directly into SFMTA’s parking data warehouse. Ted Graff, Director of Parking Operations at SFMTA, told Cities Today that the integration builds on infrastructure the agency has relied on for more than a decade.

“All parking meter transactions, whether made at the meter or through a mobile application, are communicated to the SFMTA parking data warehouse in real time, a process in place since 2014,” he said. “These meter payments, along with overall parking compliance data, form the foundation for the SFMTA’s demand-responsive parking policies.”

The introduction of ParkMobile creates a multi-vendor environment intended to make payment easier and more accessible for residents, visitors and commuters. In a statement from the company, this wider choice is presented as a way to support people travelling across busy corridors such as the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, which carries more than 120,000 daily commuters.

Graff said the expanded system is expected to influence behaviour rather than generate new revenue.

“The SFMTA’s mobile payment program is cost neutral for the agency,” he said. “By offering multiple mobile payment applications, the SFMTA expects to see an increase in parking compliance. Adding more mobile payment systems provides more options for customers to pay for parking, and we expect that will improve compliance.”

He emphasised that privacy protections remain central to how the agency handles digital parking data.

“The SFMTA takes data privacy very seriously. Data collected by the SFMTA from the use of mobile payment applications or parking meters does not contain any personally identifiable information,” he said. “The data includes only the parking location, duration of stay, amount paid, and payment method. For parking sessions associated with license plates, even the license plate numbers are hidden.”

Graff also confirmed that SFMTA maintains long-term ownership and control of its transaction datasets.

“The SFMTA owns only the data related to transactions initiated through mobile payment applications. This data does not include any personally identifiable information. All transactional data is stored in the SFMTA’s parking data warehouse and is retained for a period of 10 years.”

Updated signage across the city will guide drivers through the new mobile payment options, which allow users to start or extend a session directly from their phone. The expanded system forms part of SFMTA’s broader strategy to modernise kerb access and maintain a consistent, real-time understanding of parking activity across neighbourhoods.

Main image: Welcomia | Dreamstime.com