Chris Osgood, the mayor’s new chief of streets, has said Boston is watching cities like San Francisco for the best ways to implement “dynamic parking.”
The initiative, which launched as a pilot in San Francisco in 2011, adjusts prices for parking meters throughout the day based on demand. The high prices in high-demand areas are meant to encourage drivers to spend less time parked there, so that at least one parking spot is free all the time on even the busiest blocks.
In San Francisco, the prices for on-street parking range from 25 cents to $7 an hour, based on data that shows how busy the blocks are at various times of the day. Boston currently charges $1.25 per hour.
In the areas where the city piloted the program, drivers reported that it took 43 percent less time to find a space, compared to 13 percent less time in other areas.
The mayor also vowed to crack down on double-parking downtown and said the city would be using new technology to stop vehicles from choking intersections at red lights, a practice known as blocking the box.
danelabonte 