CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Ban on Free Parking Urged in Smog Fight
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All free parking at shopping centers, factories and office buildings would be eliminated under a smog-fighting proposal released by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The plan calls for charging 60 cents an hour for parking at shopping malls and businesses, including restaurants. Employers also would have to charge workers who drive alone $3 a day. The goal, officials say, is to discourage car use, reduce smog and raise money for improved mass transit. The proposed parking fees could be in place by 1994 and reduce emissions by 6.8%, as part of a series of actions to meet new state clean-air guidelines, the commission said.
![Los Angeles, CA - May 19: Carlos Vargas, left, and Paulina Rubio, members of the harm reduction team from Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care Systems [HOPICS], a leading homeless services and housing agency, look for drug addicts to help and pass out supplies at a homeless RV encampment along 77th St. in South Los Angeles Friday, May 19, 2023. The team hands out syringes, fentanyl test strips, overdose reversal nose spray and medication to prevent overdoses, infection and disease transmission, including the HIV virus. Fenanyl is particularly insidious because it can be found in all other drugs, especially meth and heroin. The handouts are also meant to reduce infection through broken pipes, which can cut users mouths and open them to infection. . (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bc99ba0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3900x2608+0+34/resize/1024x685!/format/webp/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe9%2F77%2F4b8bd35d4881a3edec6b945b143b%2F1298639-me-soaring-fentanyl-deaths-24-1-ajs.jpg)
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