SF Says You Can’t Park E-Scooters at These Popular Tourist Destinations

Three San Francisco e-scooter companies have been told to ban riders from parking at two popular tourist spots.

Starting in November, anyone riding Scoot, Spin and Lime scooters will no longer be able to park on a large part of The Embarcadero or on Jefferson Street—a popular Fisherman's Wharf street, as first reported by The Chronicle.

City transit bosses made the move after pressure from the Board of Supervisors and a high volume of 311 complaints.

In a Tuesday letter to the three companies, Danny Yeung, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's acting manager for permits and administration, said: "Please provide screenshots of your app in production showing this parking geofencing restriction by close of business November 1st."

The new restrictions will be in place for at least one month, from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, 2022, the transit agency said.

SFMTA may extend the term or modify the boundaries, based on their effectiveness.

“We fully intend to comply with this new requirement,” Charlie Mastoloni, Lime’s senior manager of government relations, told The Chronicle. “We've already taken steps to address the issue, including agreeing to pass on 50% of fines to riders arising from citations, equipping our entire fleet with sidewalk detection technology and implementing a 3 mph slow zone on The Embarcadero.”

Scoot and Spin were contacted for comment.

The exact locations where scooter riders are no longer allowed to park, according to the SFMTA, are:

• The Embarcadero, north/east side of the street all the way to the bay (including side streets and piers), bounded between the entrances from Pier 45 to Pier 14 inclusive.
• Jefferson Street, both sides of the entire street segment and all the way to the bay (including side streets and piers), west of Hyde Street inclusive.