San Francisco residents frustrated by fake red zones eliminating parking spaces

San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency is monitoring fake red zones that have been appearing around the city.

Fake red zones

The backstory:

Neighbors first noticed the red curbs popping up in the last few weeks and say they have been a major inconvenience, taking away about a dozen parking spots. 
 
Parking in San Francisco is notoriously difficult, and it has become even harder for some residents.

Photos posted on Reddit show a red curb that appeared to have been painted by someone in the area of Balboa Street and 18th Avenue, eliminating about a dozen parking spaces in the neighborhood.

Shortage of parking

Why you should care:

Gabriel Armstrong said he noticed a sudden shortage of parking.

"It was like, two weeks ago," Armstrong said. "We were kind of expecting some painting because of the new law about right-hand turns and 20 feet. But, this was a lot longer than 20 feet, and it didn't look quite right."

Daylighting law

The painting seems to coincide with California's new daylighting law aimed at protecting pedestrians. The law makes it illegal to park within 20 feet of crosswalks.

It appears that whoever painted the curbs in San Francisco took the law to heart, extending the red zones far beyond the 20 feet required and even adding realistic-looking SFMTA stenciling.

Confusion

This has left drivers confused.

"It's weird for sure," Armstrong said. "There isn't really an end game to it."

Gabby Arroyo also noticed the sudden extension of the red zones.

"The first one that I noticed was way over there, and it was just way bigger than any other," Arroyo said. "I knew they were changing the sidewalk laws, so I thought it was just part of that."

What they're saying:

The SFMTA released a statement saying the agency is aware of the curb painting.

"Responding to these incidents is stretching our resources thin and causing confusion among residents. To comply with the states daylighting law, we need to be focusing our limited resources where they matter most, which is most immediately in school zones to provide safe crossing to kids," the agency said.

Ultimately, neighbors are puzzled as to why someone would do this; it doesn't appear that someone did it to save a parking space for themselves.

Neighbors said all it has done is make it harder for everyone looking for parking.

"I've seen people put cones to like try to save a spot for themselves," said Arroyo. "But, I've never seen actually painting the sidewalk."

There is no criminal investigation into the curb paintings. The San Francisco Police Department said they have not received any vandalism reports from the area.

The Source: Information for this story comes from interviews with San Francisco residents and a statement from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

San Francisco