While SFMTA faces a $307- 322 million budget deficit, the agency continues to subsidize a street closure that delivers minimal public benefit and clear fiscal harm.
Direct Costs to SFMTA and Taxpayers
- Signage Fees: Under the terms of Shared Spaces Permit No. 1316522, the permit holder (HVNA) is required to pay for SFMTA-installed temporary tow-away/no parking signs during closure hours. At a conservative estimate of ~$550 per weekend, this equates to ~$28,600 per year in revenue SFMTA is not collecting. Weekly monitoring consistently shows these required signs are missing.
- Muni Reroute Costs: The closure forces the 6 Hayes/Parnassus bus to detour (including trolley-to-motor coach changes). SFMTA has acknowledged this costs $1,500 per week — $75,000 per year. By comparison, the annual permit fee is just $1,280.
Combined direct cost: Well over $100,000 per year borne by SFMTA and San Francisco taxpayers — for a program riddled with noncompliance. These figures also do not include the Hayes Street Public Life Study, which public documents suggest will cost nearly half a million dollars and includes evaluating ways to maintain or expand the closure.
Instead of enforcing existing permit conditions and collecting owed revenue already due under the Hayes Street closure permit, SFMTA has now approved PPP (Pay or Permit Parking) expansion in Hayes Valley — highlighting the contradiction between pursuing new revenue sources and failing to collect revenue already owed. Read more on the PPP expansion
This approach is particularly concerning amid SFMTA’s budget deficit.
This Pattern Must End
The Hayes Street closure is no longer a low-impact “activation.” It has become an entrenched use of public right-of-way that imposes real costs on transit operations, parking enforcement, and neighborhood commerce — while the permit holder evades basic obligations.
We call on SFMTA to revoke Permit 1316522 immediately due to sustained noncompliance. Continuing to subsidize this program while failing to enforce its terms or collect required revenue is indefensible — particularly during a historic budget deficit and amid unanswered questions about why this street remains closed at all.
Further Reading:
After 3pm on Saturdays Parcel K sits empty and so does Hayes Street. SFMTA and Bilal are absurd for allowing this closure to continue. My elderly neighbor needs to walk 2 extra blocks to the bus stop so a few people can sit in the middle of the 400 block to feel special. This is beyond ridiculous. Before COVID this whole corridor was thriving but now because the HVNA thinks they are an authority for Hayes Valley we need to put up with this. Also trying to get restraining orders on neighbors capturing the closure conditions is a bridge too far. Thanks for all you do HVSafe! Thanks for standing up.
Thank you for the kind words and for sharing your experience. Whether people support or oppose the closure, residents deserve to have their concerns heard and documented. We’ll continue doing our part to keep asking questions and keeping the record.
I oppose this… do not shut down Hayes, the bus should stay on the same route every day. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your perspective. We continue to hear from residents who prefer that the 6 Hayes remain on its regular route every day and that Hayes Street be restored to normal public use. We appreciate you taking the time to comment.