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Most San Francisco meters have a four-hour limit, most are enforced 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and on a hill you turn your wheels into the curb. Those are SFMTA’s own rules, and the rest of this page is the same kind of thing: short, from the agency, with what we could not confirm marked.
Look 100 feet in both directions for signs before you walk away from the car. Rules change from block to block.
Read on sfmta.com and sf.gov on 3 November 2026. Break-in advice from SFPD, read 27 October 2026.
Read The Signs and The Curb
SFMTA says to check for posted parking and street sweeping times and to look 100 feet in both directions for any sign. During sweeping hours you may not park until the street has been swept. Once the sweeper has passed, SFMTA says you may park, even if the posted hours have not run out. Call 311 to report a defaced or missing sign.
| Color | What SFMTA says |
|---|---|
| Green meter or curb | Short-term parking. Meters have a 15 or 30 minute limit; green zones can be 10, 15 or 30 minutes. |
| Yellow | Commercial loading, for vehicles with commercial plates. Yellow meters are for all commercial vehicles. |
| Red meter | Commercial loading for vehicles with six or more wheels. |
| White | Passenger loading, usually five minutes, with the driver staying in the vehicle. Some white zones allow loading and unloading of goods. |
| Blue | Accessible parking for people with a valid disabled parking permit. |
SFMTA’s pages we read do not explain red curbs, so we do not. Where a curb has faded so far that the color is hard to tell, SFMTA says it will not be enforced for color violations.
Meters: Hours, Payment and Limits
- Meters run every day except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
- Most are enforced 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and hours and rates vary. Check the meter.
- Sunday meters run at Fisherman’s Wharf, along The Embarcadero, at nine off-street lots, and around Oracle Park and Chase Center during special events, when special event rates apply.
- You may prepay from 4:30 a.m. at all meters, except Port meters near the waterfront. The meter counts any free time before enforcement starts, so an 8 a.m. one-hour payment at a 9 a.m. meter shows two hours.
- Do not feed the meter past the limit. SFMTA says it can get you a citation.
- Every meter takes coins, cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) and pay-by-phone through HotSpot or ParkMobile. Phone payments add a $0.35 fee. SFMTA does not accept QR-code payments at meters, and it gives no refunds.
- A meter is only broken if it takes no coins and no card. Park at a truly broken meter and you get the posted limit or four hours, whichever is shorter. A shopping bag over a meter does not mean it is broken unless it carries an official SFMTA stamp and logo.
Parking on a Hill
SFMTA says to curb your wheels on any perceptible grade, and it gives the rule for 3 percent or steeper. Set the parking brake every time.
| You are facing | Turn your front wheels |
|---|---|
| Downhill, with a curb | Into the curb, toward the side of the road |
| Uphill, with a curb | Away from the curb, then let the car roll back a few inches until the wheel gently touches the curb |
| Either way, with no curb | So the car would roll away from the center of the road if the brakes failed |
SFMTA points to Public Works’ Street Grade Map to check a street’s grade.
What Gets a Ticket
- Parking more than 18 inches from the curb, or against the flow of traffic.
- Blocking a driveway, a curb ramp or any crosswalk, marked or not. Leave at least 20 feet (about a car length) before a crosswalk.
- Parking on a sidewalk. SFMTA says this includes bikes and motorcycles that block the path.
- Staying in a permit zone past the posted limit without a permit. After you move, SFMTA says to go one block away or at least one-tenth of a mile, about 500 feet. Circling back to the same block can be ticketed.
- Leaving a car in one place more than 72 hours when no other limit applies. A current permit or disabled placard does not exempt it.
- Parking in a tow-away zone during commute hours. Check the meter face and signs.
Out-of-state and foreign disabled placards: SFMTA says a displayed placard or plate, including one from another state or country, allows parking in blue zones and at general meters without paying, but not in red zones, during street cleaning, or in loading zones. Read the full list on SFMTA’s page.
Do Not Leave Anything in The Car
SFPD’s advice for visitors is blunt: park smart, keep the trunk empty and take your valuables with you. It lists phones, sunglasses, luggage and passports as things not to leave in a car. If you have to move bags, do it before you reach your destination, out of sight. The Fisherman’s Wharf district’s own parking page says the same.
Call 911 if a break-in is happening. To report one afterward, SFPD points to 415-553-0123 or 311.
If You Get a Ticket
SFMTA has a page for citations at sfmta.com under Drive & Park: "You got a parking ticket or were booted – now what?" We did not read that page, so we do not summarize it. A short SFMTA video says you have options, and that video is linked from SFMTA’s parking rules page.
What We Could Not Confirm
- Garage and lot rates. SFMTA’s garage page did not load for us, so we list no city garage prices. Pier 39’s own garage rules are on our Fisherman’s Wharf page.
- Meter rates by block. SFMTA keeps them on a map we did not read.
- What a citation costs. We did not read SFMTA’s fine schedule.
- Street sweeping times for a given street. Public Works has an address lookup.
- Rental car rules. We found nothing specific to rental cars.
More Practical Pages
If you would rather skip the car, read Getting Around San Francisco. Residents: permits and sweeping.
Questions People Ask
Can I park anywhere for 72 hours?
Only where no other rule applies. SFMTA’s 72-hour limit applies when there are no meters, permit zones, sweeping hours or posted time limits.
Do I pay for parking on Sunday?
Mostly no, with exceptions. SFMTA lists Fisherman’s Wharf, The Embarcadero, nine off-street lots and the Oracle Park and Chase Center event areas as Sunday meters.
Can I pay for a meter from my phone?
Yes. SFMTA lists HotSpot and ParkMobile, each with a $0.35 convenience fee.
Sources
- SFMTA, How to park legally: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/drive-park/how-avoid-parking-tickets (read 3 November 2026)
- SFMTA, Parking meters: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/drive-park/parking-meters (read 3 November 2026)
- SFMTA, Loading and short-term parking: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/drive-park/color-curb (read 3 November 2026)
- SFMTA, Drive and park: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/drive-park (read 3 November 2026)
- City of San Francisco, Visitor safety information: https://www.sf.gov/visitor-safety-information-for-san-francisco (read 3 November 2026)
- Fisherman’s Wharf Community Benefit District, Parking: https://www.fishermanswharf.org/plan-your-visit/getting-around/parking/ (read 3 November 2026)
- SFPD, Park Smart: https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-prevention/park-smart (read 27 October 2026)