KQED-FM: SF Towing Fees May Be Lowered After Criticism from Board of Supervisors (audio)
Original recording from KQED’s FORUM
Last week the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Metropolitan Transportation Agency agreed to drop fees for towed vehicles to $380. If the MTA and the Board give final approval to this decision, it would represent the first cut in tow rates since 2011. Over the past five years, the towing fee nearly tripled to $491.25. While the MTA has argued that fee hikes are necessary to meet operating costs, civil rights lawyers claim these fees are financially devastating to lower-income residents, especially when they lose their cars. We’ll discuss the proposed fee reduction and what it might mean for Bay Area motorists.
Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:
- Elisa Della-Piana, legal director for Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Jane Kim, supervisor of San Francisco’s District 6
- Paul Rose, chief spokesperson for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA)
- Tracy Koehler, owner of Courtesy Tow in San Francisco & board member of the Tow Truck Association of California