A Better Solution To $10 Fee On This Popular Tourist Attraction
I really enjoy visiting San Francisco but this new proposal ticks me off: county transportation officials are considering charging people to drive on Lombard Street.
San Francisco County Transportation Authority officials are considering charging as much as $10 for vehicles to go down the famous well-manicured and scenic street, which local tourism officials tout at the “most crooked street in San Fransisco” and is one of the “must-do” things many people do while visiting “the City.”
For decades, this brief pleasure – you often have to wait longer to drive down it than the actual drive lasts – was free. But, like too man things these days, what was once free is no free. Or, in this case, a fee is being considered.
A few proposals are on the table, including $5 during the week and $10 on weekends, along with a limit on the number of vehicles allowed in a 24-hour period. But I just don’t like officials suddenly charging for something that for years was free. I can’t help but feel greed, such as airlines charging for checked bags and hotels adding on those ridiculous “resort fees.”
Of course, the tourists themselves are partly to to blame. Many of them have no consideration of the neighbors and are simply in pursuit of the ever-important selfie: “look, I got 100 likes!”
My friend lives right where the vehicles exit Lombard Street empties onto Leavenworth Street and it’s often annoying trying to get into his place because tourists are all over the place. I get it why locals are going to city hall and complaining and it can be disrupting because everyone has a phone and they want a selfie.
What I don’t like is officials trying to make a buck on it as a solution. That won’t slow down anyone (except for me because I won’t pay it) because tourist have spent a lot of money to come to San Francisco and this one of the “hey I’m in San Francisco” things to do, along with driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and eating clam chowder out of a sourdough bread bowl at Fisherman’s Wharf.
The last time I was at my friend’s place, driving around searching for a parking spot while having to dodge all the tourists and vehicles, I came to a simple solution. To myself I said, “why don’t they put a police officer here to monitor the traffic and keep order here?”
That would be a lot more effective than charing a fee.
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