While you're traveling about town this Thanksgiving weekend, know all the ins and outs of holiday parking so you don't get stuck with a nasty ticket on your windshield. David LaBua, author of city parking manual Finding the Sweet Spot, has all the info you'll need.

Parking enforcement rules on holidays in San Francisco are simple and straightforward except for one thing….they’re not.  The SF Department of Transportation lawmakers are lovers of the asterisk.  However, fear not, I will expound on the asterisk that spoils the simplicity of what could be a simple holiday parking enforcement schedule.

THANKSGIVING DAY
WILL NOT BE ENFORCED ON THANKSGIVING DAY:
•    Commuter Tow-Away (ex. No Parking 3 p.m - 7 p.m Commuter Lane)
•    Residential Permit
•    M-F Daytime Street Sweeping (ex. Street Sweeping Thursday 8-10 a.m.)
•    7 Day Street Sweeping
•    Parking Meters*
    (Port Authority Meters will be enforced!)*

DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING
WILL NOT BE ENFORCED THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING:
•    Commuter Tow-Away (ex. No Parking 3 p.m -7 p.m Commuter Lane)
•    Residential Permit
•    M-F Daytime Street Sweeping (ex. Street Sweeping Friday 8-10 a.m.)

WILL BE ENFORCED THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING:
•    7 Day Street Sweeping
•    Parking Meters (all meters)

SATURDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, NOVEMBER 27TH
Although it feels like a holiday, it is just a regular Saturday in the eyes of the DPT, and they will handout $250,000 worth of citations like they do every day, so be mindful.

*Parking is free and clear on Thanksgiving Day on most streets except at Port Authority meters and in some Port Authority zones which ARE enforced 7 days a week/365 days a year.

•    Port Authority meters do not have a slot for the SFMTA payment card and  say 7 days a week on them
•    Port Authority signs will say Including Holidays

Why are Port Authority meters and zones different from regular San Francisco meters and zones?  That, my friends, will be answered on another day.

For the seasoned veterans who are still reading and haven’t conceded their $65, here are two places where it’s easy to make an expensive mistake:
1) 7-day street sweeping always occurs after midnight and the sign will say 7
 Days, or Every Day. If you are out on Thursday night, which is a holiday, remember that at 12:00 a.m., it becomes Friday. So take a minute to think about this when
you park.


2) Commuter lanes such as the ones along the Embarcadero, Fifth St., and Mission St., are not enforced
 on Friday. But remember, the meters are.

For more info, or a printable Holiday Parking Enforcement Schedule to keep in your glovebox, click on the Holiday Parking Enforcement Link here. To see exactly where in the name of Peter, Paul and Mary, Port Authority Property is, click here and look at the key…any street in the yellow zone is Port Authority jurisdiction.