SFpark is a parking management system using demand-responsive pricing to make parking easier for urban dwellers in San Francisco, while reducing emissions due to circling for parking.

With the slogan “Circle Less, Live More”, SFpark manages parking demand in San Francisco by collecting and distributing real-time information about where curbside parking spots are available. To help achieve the right level of parking availability across all streets, SFpark periodically adjusts the curbside meter and parking garage rates. The aim is to reduce double parking and the time that distracted drivers move around looking for parking.

“Better parking management is a powerful tool for improving city’s quality of life, and economic competitiveness.”

Jay Primus – Program Manager, SFPark

The program has helped reduce congestion as well as time and fuel wastage, while improving the speed and reliability of public transit, emergency services and road safety. Furthermore, SFpark engages citizens by encouraging independent developers and researchers to use its public data and open source code to create new apps and insights.

Why you should care

Effective parking management results in reduced congestion and fuel wastage in cities. Pricing that is responsive to high demand can also encourage people to switch to public transport. Lessons learned from the SFpark project are documented and publicly available, which will help scale demand-responsive pricing to the entire city and persuade other cities to adopt a similar approach.

How the Global Goals are addressed

Good health and well-being
Double-parked cars cause accidents, and distracted drivers looking for parking on streets and in parking lots are more likely to collide with pedestrians, cyclists or other cars. Better parking management results in fewer accidents and safer roads.

Sustainable Cities and Communities
It is estimated that up to 30% of traffic in central business districts is caused by vehicles searching for parking. Improved parking management has significant potential to reduce congestion and pollution in cities.

About SFpark project

SFpark is San Francisco’s system for managing the availability of on-street parking.

Purchase product

SFpark Project
City of San Francisco


Global Goals addressed

Deployed in: USA
Developed in: USA
Stage: Full implementation