Dear Parking Guru,

I read your work for 7x7 every week. A couple of weeks ago you mentioned that the new Sunday parking enforcement would be starting, but that it would not be enforced for the first three Sundays, and reminders instead of tickets would be given out for meter violations.

Later, I also saw it reported on the Huffington Post and on CBS. Unfortunately, yesterday afternoon (the third Sunday in January), I received an expired meter parking ticket for $72 in SoMA instead of a warning. I checked and could not find anything anywhere about warnings for the first three weeks on the SFMTA website. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for your time and advice either way. You have saved me cash a
couple of times already so it all balances out :)

Best,
Anna Gram

Dear Anna,

I’m glad that I’ve saved you cash a couple of times. Let’s keep the streak alive and save you some more. For you and anyone who has received a parking ticket for a meter violation on Sunday the 6th, 13th, and/or 20th of January 2013…you are in luck.

I anticipated just such an occurrence, so I saved a PDF of the SFMTA press releases discussing the grace period. The January 17th press release states, “The grace period remains in effect this Sunday and Parking Control Officers will issue reminders, not citations, on cars at expired meters.”

You should download and print a copy of the press release, highlight the date and the section about the Sunday grace period. Send this in with a copy of your ticket to the address on the back of your ticket for contesting a ticket.  You will first receive a letter stating that the case is under review. Then 30-90 days later, you should receive a letter stating that after reviewing the case, your citation has been dismissed. But remember, that this Sunday…and beyond…the free ride is over.

You can view and print a copy of this press release by clicking here.

Do it now before you forget and SFMTA gets you on the technicality of not contesting the ticket in within 21 days. And while you’re at it, spread the word to all of your friends and family, who may have inadvertently paid off (or blown off) a Sunday parking ticket that they got in the last three weeks, and save them $72!

To find out more ways that you can save money on parking tickets, click here. To check out the free Beta version (version 2.0 coming out in about week) of VoicePark, the app that guides you by voice to the nearest available parking spot, click here.