Those who sign up receive a text if their car is about to get towed, and what follows is a race against time: At the same time you get a text, a tow truck is dispatched, and it’s up to you to get to your car first. Once your car is hooked up to the tow truck, it can’t be stopped.
According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, more than 16,000 vehicles have been signed up since January 2022. That equals about 3 percent of the more than 470,000 vehicles registered in San Francisco as of the end of 2020, according to California Department of Motor Vehicles data.
In the past two years, a total of 130 text notifications have been sent to program participants, SFMTA data shows. Among them, slightly more than half — 70 — were able to save their car from being towed.
According to SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte, the numbers indicate that only 130 of the 16,000 cars enrolled were in danger of being towed for the four types of violations that the program covers: parking in the same spot for more than 72 hours, blocking driveways, construction zone parking or temporary no parking zones for special events and moving trucks.
When SFMTA announced the program's launch, it said that in 2020, the approximately 12,500 cars towed for the four categories accounted for 27 percent of all vehicles towed that year.
In 2022 and 2023, a total of 24,133 vehicles were towed for those types of violations, SFMTA told the Chronicle. Cars that were towed but did not get a text were not signed up for the program, Roccaforte said — adding that that’s why the agency continues to promote it.
Manny Yekutiel, a former SFMTA board member who spearheaded the program, said that, while he was surprised at how few texts went out, he was encouraged that more than half of people who did get a text message were able to save their car from being towed.
“That means that the program works,” he said. “To me that’s huge. That’s really exciting.”
The first year of the program was billed as a pilot, and even though the number of texts was low, SFMTA believes it was successful and plans to continue the program, Roccaforte said. The agency is “continuously evaluating the possibility of expanding it to other tow categories,” he added.
While those enrolled in the text-before-tow program can avoid tow-related costs if they get to their car in time, they are still on the hook for any parking violation fees.
Tows in San Francisco are notoriously expensive — and can be a huge financial blow for residents — but Roccaforte said SFMTA actually loses money on its towing program.
“The SFMTA sets its highest tow fees at a cost-recovery level and offers a variety of waivers and fee reductions for people who are low-income, experiencing homelessness or who've had their car towed for the first time,” he wrote in an email to the Chronicle. “In total, the tow program ended up costing the agency about $5.8 million in Fiscal Year 2023.”
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