Times are tough, the recession is forcing students to change their lifestyles to save money and the city of San Francisco is scrambling to make up for this year's $438 million budget deficit.

Now the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency wants to extend parking meter hours from the usual 5 or 6 p.m. to midnight and many San Franciscans, including myself, stand firmly against it.

You might be thinking, "I don't drive a car -- why would I care if the parking meter around the corner is charging drivers endless amounts of quarters until midnight?" But this is only the beginning of our problems.

The price of Muni passes just increased this summer and will again in January. And tuition is always rising, causing us to pay more for a lot less with more furlough days and less classes available -- all while San Francisco's unemployment is still at a record 10.1 percent.

The argument for the extended parking meter hours is to raise money for the city's transit, bringing in an expected $9 million per year for SFMTA, which operates Muni. Parking meters monitor approximately 24,000 spaces in the city, according to the SFMTA Web site. Also, a better circulation is expected among cars, allowing for more parking spots in the evenings for nightlife-goers.

But some argue that extending parking meter hours will actually ruin the fun for clubbers, causing them to constantly add money to their meters -- but if you're drinking, you probably shouldn't be driving home anyhow.

According to an Oct. 19 SF Weekly blog post, back in the mid-1990s, then-San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan proposed raising prices and enforcement hours on some downtown meters to increase turnover. He was met by a lot of angry feedback and backed off. Instead of extending hours, Jordan proposed that "MTA should cut millions of dollars of fat out of its budget by ceasing wasteful labor practices."

The city is trying to pinch money out of everything possible, but Mayor Gavin Newsom isn't having it. According to an Oct. 14 article in the SF Examiner, "The time isn't right," mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard wrote in an e-mail. "In this economy, we can't ask people to pay more for parking ... We want to encourage people to have dinner and go out on the town, not make it harder."

"I dislike it a lot, because once it's 6 p.m. it's free parking and I love free parking," Cameron Egan, product design major, 22, said. "I don't even know what I would do. I would try to take public transit more."

So maybe it's not that bad after all -- if people ride Muni more. Sounds like Muni had that plan all along. But raising fees isn't the only solution to getting money for the city -- it obviously hasn't helped much in the past, since California seems to always be in debt.

Parking meter hours would be extended across the city:

Until 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday; 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday. 
Neighborhoods: Bayview



Until 6 p.m. Monday - Thursday; until 9 p.m. Friday - Saturday; 
11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday.
 Neighborhoods including: Financial District, Taraval Street, Irving Street, West Portal, Inner Richmond, Outer Mission

Until 9 p.m. Monday - Thursday; until midnight Friday - Saturday; 
11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday. Neighborhoods including: Financial District, SOMA, Mission district, Cow Hollow, Outer Richmond, Van Ness corridor, Fillmore district, Divisadero Street



Until midnight Monday - Saturday; 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday. 
Neighborhoods including: Mission district, the Castro, North Beach, Union Square, Tenderloin, Fisherman's Wharf


Source: SFMTA