Surly in SF

Air played the Fox Theater Friday night in Oakland. Good show, though much more mellow than their previous bay area performances.

If you haven’t been to the Fox, check it out–truly a beautiful venue.

So I needed to get a smog check and after doing a little googling, found out that the cost can vary significantly.  The best deals seem to be found on SFAdvertiser.com ($29.95 for the check, $8.25 for the certificate, plus $2 to electronically transmit the results to the DMV). Other places charge upward of $80 for the whole shebang.

I tried one of the shops from the Adverstiser–RPM Auto…big mistake.  I made an appointment, showed up on time, waited for half an hour, and then was told that they still couldn’t get to me and unapologetically advised that I should come back another day.  Thanks for wasting my time.  Other customers there seemed to have been waiting a long time too.

So…I tried San Francisco Test Only Smog on 1998 Market St (at Duboce).  They take VISA/MC, had me in and out in less than 20 minutes, are open 7 days a week (8a-6p M-F, 9a-4p Sa-Su), and give you a nice little chocolate as a treat for passing your test.  Be advised that they don’t offer free re-test.

Sheeeeeeit–the SFMTA raised meter parking for motorcycles from 2.8X to 4X!!!  That means $1200 more per year for downtown commuters.  WTF?!

This is fucking bullshit.  I wrote my district supervisor and the mayor–if you are as pissed as I am, I encourage you to do the same and pass this on to others who ride in SF. Links to the contact forms are here:

Mayor: http://www.sfgov.org/site/mayor_index.asp?id=22018
Supervisors: http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_index.asp

Perhaps letters to the SFMTA will help too. Here’s my letter:

[mayor/supervisor so-and-so],

I recently discovered that the SFMTA quadrupled the parking meter rates throughout the city during the July 1 rate increase. This seems excessive and disproportionate considering that the regular auto rates increased a mere 16% to 33%.

Motorcycles, mopeds and scooters have much greater fuel economy than their 4-wheeled counterparts. Additionally, they reduce congestion on the streets. The SFMTA rate increase diminishes the collective good of 2-wheeled vehicles. This is contradictory to San Francisco’s green initiatives.

Perhaps a rate increase was necessary; however, a 300% increase is excessive. Downtown commuters will see an annual increase of $1200 in their parking fees. This seems to be contributing to the disturbing trend of making San Francisco increasingly unaffordable to most of its residents.

Can you tell me what can be done to return the rates to something more reasonable?

Thanks,

[your name]