San Francisco Parking Tickets: Fines, Late Penalties, and Payment Plans

Parking ticket fines in San Francisco run from $63 for a minor curb violation to $108 for parking in a red zone or blocking a transit lane, with most common tickets landing between $90 and $102. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) sets the amounts, and they climb quickly once you miss a payment deadline. A single overlooked citation can turn into several hundred dollars in penalties, and a stack of them can cost you your car.

What Each Violation Costs

The current fine schedule took effect on April 16, 2025. These are the violations most drivers actually get:¹

Expired meter or overtime parking: $101 in the downtown core, $92 elsewhere
Street cleaning: $90
Residential parking permit zone without a permit: $102
Sidewalk parking: $108 (California Vehicle Code 22500(f))
Double parking: $108 (California Vehicle Code 22500(h))
Transit-only lane: $108
Red, yellow, or white curb zone: $108 each
Green zone overstay: $95
Failure to curb wheels on a grade of 3% or more: $63

One less common citation is worth knowing about because of how much it stings: misuse of a disabled parking placard carries an $866 fine.¹

Yellow zones deserve a note because visitors get caught constantly. If your vehicle doesn’t have commercial plates, you can stop in a yellow zone for a maximum of three minutes for active loading only, and you have to stay with the vehicle the whole time.² Restriction hours vary by block, so the sign or curb paint is the only reliable guide.

How Late Fees Multiply the Bill

The listed fine is what you owe only if you handle the ticket promptly. Miss the first deadline and the SFMTA adds a $38 late penalty. Miss the second and another $53 goes on top. After that second missed deadline, a $40 special collection fee is also applied.¹

Run those numbers on a $90 street cleaning ticket. First late penalty pushes it to $128. Second late penalty takes it to $181. Add the collection fee and you’re at $221, nearly two and a half times the original fine. If the citation is eventually referred to a third-party collections agency, a further surcharge applies on top of everything.

How to Pay Before the Penalties Hit

You have 21 days from the citation date, or from the date of your first courtesy notice, to pay or protest. Payment channels:³

Online through the SFMTA payment portal using the citation number or your license plate
By mail with a check or money order payable to “SFMTA,” sent to the Customer Service Center at 11 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94103, with the citation number on the check
By phone through the automated system, available at any hour
In person at 11 South Van Ness Avenue, where cash, checks, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Apple Pay are all accepted⁴

Lost the physical ticket? Look it up on the SFMTA citations page using your license plate or VIN. Don’t wait for a mailed notice to arrive. The 21-day clock is already running.

Contesting a Ticket Instead

If you believe a citation was issued in error, file a first-level protest within 21 days of the ticket date or the first courtesy notice date. You can submit it online (with photos or other evidence uploaded) or by mail. Once received, the citation is placed on hold, and review can take up to 90 days.⁵ Do not pay while a protest is pending; the SFMTA specifically instructs drivers to hold off.³

If the first protest is denied, you have 25 calendar days from the denial letter to request an Administrative Hearing before an independent hearing officer. California Vehicle Code 40215(b) generally requires a deposit equal to the fine before the hearing, though the deposit is waived if your income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, if you’re an international visitor with a valid passport, if a single citation exceeds $200, or if you’re contesting multiple citations with combined fines over $200. Hearings can happen in person, by phone, or in writing.⁵

A hearing officer’s decision can be appealed to the San Francisco Superior Court within 30 days for a $25 filing fee per citation, refundable if you win.⁵

What Happens If You Just Ignore Them

Any vehicle with five or more delinquent citations is eligible for booting, meaning a metal clamp is locked to a wheel until you pay. The SFMTA can also skip the boot and tow the vehicle outright.⁶

The standard boot removal fee is $495. It drops to $75 for drivers with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, and people experiencing homelessness qualify for a one-time free removal.⁷ If the vehicle is towed, add a $305 tow fee plus storage. The first four hours of storage are free, then $66 covers the rest of day one, and each additional day runs $79. Every outstanding citation has to be cleared before the vehicle is released.⁸

Five ignored $90 street cleaning tickets with two rounds of late penalties each come to about $1,105 in fines and penalties. Add the boot fee, or a tow plus a few days of storage, and getting your car back can run $1,600 to $1,900.

Unpaid citations also reach you at the DMV. The SFMTA transmits delinquent citations to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which places a hold on your vehicle registration. Under California Vehicle Code Sections 4760 and 4761, you cannot renew registration until every parking and toll violation is cleared.⁹ If you have five or more outstanding citations, the SFMTA recommends paying at the Customer Service Center and taking written proof to the DMV, because processing between the two agencies can lag.³

Payment Plans for Low-Income Drivers

If your bill has already grown, the low-income payment plan is worth a serious look. Qualifying drivers pay off citations in monthly installments of $25 to $50 with a $5 enrollment fee, and every late penalty is removed once the plan is completed.¹⁰

You qualify if any of the following applies:

You receive Medi-Cal, CalFresh, SFMTA Lifeline, or Clipper START benefits
Your income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level (roughly $31,000 for a single person or $66,000 for a family of four)
You are experiencing homelessness in San Francisco and have worked with a Coordinated Entry Access Point in the last six months¹⁰

The penalty removal is what makes this valuable. If accumulated late fees have doubled or tripled your original fine, completing the plan effectively wipes those penalties out.

A Note on Rental Cars and Disabled Placards

If you get a ticket in a rental car, you’re still responsible. The SFMTA mails the citation to the registered owner, which is the rental company; the company typically pays and charges your card, adding an administrative processing fee. If the physical ticket is still on the windshield, pay the SFMTA directly through the online portal using the citation number and skip the rental company’s markup.

A valid disabled placard lets you park at general metered spaces without paying and exempts you from posted time limits like one-hour business district zones. It does not exempt you from street cleaning hours, commercial loading hours (yellow curbs and yellow or red meters), passenger loading hours (white curbs), or commuter tow-away hours, and no vehicle can stay in a single space for more than 72 hours.¹¹

1
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. SFMTA Fees and Fines
2
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Yellow Zones/Commercial Loading
3
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Pay a Parking Ticket or Transit Citation
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San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. SFMTA Customer Service Center
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San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Contest a Citation
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San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Boot Hearings
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SFMTA. Boot Fee Reductions
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SFMTA. Towed Vehicles
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California DMV. Parking/Toll Violations on Record (VC 4760 and 4761)
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Financial Justice Project. Can’t Afford to Pay Your Parking Ticket?
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SFMTA. Parking with a Disabled Placard