Do empty yellow loading zones best serve the San Francisco Chinatown community?

SAN FRANCISCO — It is not a secret that small businesses in Chinatown are struggling for survival since the pandemic. It is also known to the community members that it is always difficult to find a parking space on streets in San Francisco Chinatown. One of the factors has come from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

In recent years, the SFMTA has extended yellow loading zone parking hours in Chinatown. Those extended hours have made it even harder for customers to find a parking spot and left Chinatown with plenty of empty parking spaces at yellow zones. As a result, the businesses in Chinatown have been negatively affected.

After a 2-year complaint from Chinatown merchants, the SFMTA agreed to have a reduction of two hours on the yellow zone parking from 7am-4pm to 7am-2pm on 3 blocks of Stockton Street in Chinatown starting April 1. But merchants were still very upset about the outcome. They demanded the SFMTA release more hours and more meters to regular parking in the entire Chinatown area instead of only 3 blocks on Stockton Street.

Parking spaces are always crucial for businesses, especially for the storefronts, because customers would be inclined to visit a shop if they could park their cars easily and nearby. More foot traffic means greater exposure and sales opportunities for storefronts.

The SFMTA announced on March 31, 2025 that curb parking hours for yellow zones on Monday through Saturday on the 3-block Stockton Street, between Washington Street and Broadway, would be changed from 7am-4pm to 7am-2pm effective immediately on the next day, April 1.

2pm-6pm becomes general metered parking hours at those 3-block long Stockton Street. The SFMTA said in the announcement that the latest parking changes on Stockton Street were at the request of the community.

"This is a 9-month trial to observe the effects of this parking change before making it permanent," the SFMTA wrote. "The trial is intended to test whether more general metered parking can be provided on these blocks without impeding Muni service or traffic flow generally."

"Stockton Street is the heart of Chinatown’s vibrant small business community, and carries three important Muni bus routes, the 8, 30, and 45 lines, serving thousands of people every day," the SFMTA added that the impact to the Muni bus services needed to be considered when they decided to make changes on the yellow zone parking hours in Chinatown.

"Deliveries to the many businesses along the Stockton corridor are essential to commercial vitality, and balancing access for those deliveries, along with keeping Muni service reliable and efficient for all those who depend on it, needs to be prioritized along with short-term parking for customers and visitors."

"Not only Stockton Street, the general public needs more parking spaces also within the entire Chinatown neighborhood," said Edward Siu, President of the Chinatown Merchants United Association, who has taken the lead representing merchants to speak to the SFMTA on the issue of yellow zone parking in Chinatown for over 2 years.

"The yellow zone metered parking spaces need to be changed to regular parking in the afternoon as early as possible. Don't use the term to say merchants need loading zones. We have seen that all yellow zones are always empty for most of the day. Loadings don't need a full day," said Siu.

"Please consider releasing more parking spaces to the public. Most of the deliveries or loadings have been done in the morning, not in the afternoon. Please listen to our request and take more time to communicate with us," Siu wrote in an email to the SFMTA after learning of the announcement.

When Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed Acting Director Julie Kirschbaum to the permanent position at the SFMTA in February, Kirschbaum said in a statement, "Fighting for transportation funding is going to be one of my top priorities. But an equally important priority is going to be rebuilding trust where trust has been lost between our agency and some of the communities and businesses we serve. I’m committed to listening, collaborating, and bringing people together to come up with solutions that will benefit all of us.”

Siu couldn't agree with what Kirschbaum said in her February statement. Kirschbaum has been serving at the SFMTA since 2007. "The SFMTA has never listened to our community. They want to kill our small businesses," Siu said. "Extending hours of yellow zone metered parking since the pandemic from noon to 4pm or 6pm has left the entire Chinatown full of empty meter spots. Ultimately it would kill many businesses in Chinatown."

"Not only on Stockton Street, but also on Washington, Jackson, Sacramento and Clay streets are full of empty yellow zone metered parking spots. The SFMTA should be aware of it. Why does our community need to keep complaining and complaining for two years fighting for common sense policy? It doesn't make sense at all," Siu said the yellow loading zone parking hours prior to the pandemic were normally from 7am to noon.

Daisy Xie, owner of the New Golden Daisy BBQ restaurant on Stockton Street between Washington and Jackson streets, echoed Siu on the latest parking hour changes announced by the SFMTA. "The SFMTA has never listened to us. The Central Subway construction lasted for 10 years. The SFMTA ignored the impact on us. We had suffered a lot," said Xie.

"After the Central Subway opened for service in November 2022, we wanted the bus stops to stay on our block. But the SFMTA did not listen to us again and decided to move the bus stops to the next block in front of the Central Subway station," Xie sighed, expressing sadness. "Now there are yellow zone parking meters in front of our restaurant with no cars, while our customers are trying very hard to find a parking space closer to us."

"We have been fighting for two years for releasing more yellow zones to regular metered parkings. It ended up with the SFMTA saying they were okay to cut down two hours. What's the difference to all of us for only two hours in the afternoon from 2pm to 4pm?" said Xie.

Noon to 2pm are crucial hours for all storefront businesses because more customers would walk out of their offices for lunch and shopping. Same as visitors and tourists, they would drive around looking for restaurants and food for their lunches. The latest announcement for hour changes is a pilot program for 9 months which covers the busiest summer season for all businesses in Chinatown.

On the same side and same block with Xie's restaurant, a number of storefronts are service oriented that require very few daily commercial loadings. They include two banks, a Christian church, a travel agency, and a pharmacy. "In fact, there are very few commercial loadings on our block," said Xie.

A regular daily Muni rider who did not want to be named in the article called the Stockton Street corridor in Chinatown "a ghost street". "I take public transit. I do not drive. But I like to see more vehicles driving on streets in San Francisco. It really hurts the image of Chinatown when visitors drive around and see no cars on Stockton Street. They will leave Chinatown and go to somewhere else. " said the rider.

The rider also said the city should value small businesses and try their best to keep them staying in Chinatown. "Without small businesses, Chinatown cannot survive."

"During the pandemic, the financial district was empty and people worked from home. Why did the SFMTA still enforce the towing at 3pm in the afternoon commute hours on Clay Street in Chinatown? They towed vehicles for only one reason: to make Muni buses easier to stop at bus stops. We needed to fight very hard against it two years ago," the rider recalled.

The SFMTA Board of Directors voted 4:3 on April 1 to approve plans for cutting services to several bus lines in an attempt to deal with the $50 million budget deficit this fiscal year. The deficit at SFMTA is expected to be up to $300 million in 2026.

Opening more yellow zone meters for general parkings in Chinatown can significantly generate revenues for the SFMTA which faces a massive budget shortfall, the Chinatown community says.

Due to the newly-enforced daylighting law, more general metered parking spots are lost in Chinatown. The SFMTA's yellow zone parking policy in Chinatown is wasting resources for all parties. Chinatown merchants said they have seen their businesses continuously going downhill in 2025.

Wind Newspaper sent an inquiry to the SFMTA if the policy would be re-considered. The SFMTA said in the response that the loading zone schedule change is currently being tested on Stockton Street to see if the schedule needed to be adjusted further.

"Commercial (yellow) loading zones are an essential tool for managing our streets, providing designated space for delivery trucks to pull over and unload (or pick up) while keeping the right-of-way clear for traffic to move safely," the SFMTA stated. "Keeping Stockton Street unobstructed for Muni to operate safely and efficiently is our topmost priority."

"The SFMTA doesn’t control when deliveries are made to the many businesses on Stockton Street; most tend to come during the morning but others arrive later, into the middle afternoon. We’re hopeful that businesses can work with their suppliers to schedule deliveries to be finished before 2:00 PM," the SFMTA said.

Regarding other loading zones in Chinatown, the SFMTA responded that they were open to adjusting both the placement and schedules. "But we need to be careful to minimize right-of-way obstruction on those busy and often narrow streets. We’re eager to observe and learn from the trial currently underway on Stockton Street, to see whether merchants are able to collaborate with their suppliers to manage delivery and pickup patterns, which would allow shorter and more consistent loading zone hours on a given block."

"It’s also likely that improvements can be made to the placement of loading zones on some streets so that they’re more effective in supporting orderly deliveries, for everyone’s benefit," SFMTA added.

Wind Newspaper also sent an inquiry to Mayor Lurie. Lurie's office did not respond with a comment by press time.