Feeling Congested? San Francisco Might Charge You

"Congestion pricing is totally doable in San Francisco," said Jose Luis Moscovich, executive director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority "There are alternatives that can be implemented with ways to mitigate the impacts." It's still in its infancy, but San Francisco could be the first U.S. city to mimic London's famous congestion charging. The idea being that if drivers know they have to pay to enter a heavily trafficked area, they'll stay out of it. There'd be all sorts of exceptions setup and probably reduced or no fees for "green" vehicles. San Francisco is set to already experiment with "demand based parking" next year, where the price you pay at the meter varies on how plentiful parking is.

Some business wonder if adding impediments is the right thing to do given the times. There are a lot of hoops that SF would have to jump through, so I wouldn't expect any experiments to be in place for several years. Hopefully the nation's economy would start to recover by then. Besides, San Francisco really has its own economy. Even today its home prices are not suffering like they are elsewhere in the Bay Area. I'm on the fence when it comes to congestion charging. Keeping dense areas clear for folks who really need to travel is appealing, but I've also seen the tremendous impact London's scheme has had on my uncle's business. I'd like to see existing laws, such as those against double parking, strongly enforced during peak times before we hatch new schemes to battle traffic clogs.

source: sfgate