San Francisco Disables Viral Parking Ticket Tracker in Under 24 Hours

San Francisco city officials moved rapidly to disable a real-time parking enforcement tracking website created by software engineer Riley Walz, shutting down the viral application just hours after its public launch. Walz had "reverse engineered the San Francisco parking ticket system" to "see every ticket seconds after it's written," as he stated in a widely shared tweet, subsequently launching a website he dubbed "Find My Friends? AVOID THE PARKING COPS."

Walz, a 23-year-old tech worker, developed the "Find My Parking Cops" platform by analyzing publicly available citation data from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). He discovered that ticket numbers followed a sequential, albeit non-consecutive, pattern, allowing him to use artificial intelligence to predict new citation numbers and scrape the data in near real-time. This allowed his app to map the routes and activity of parking control officers.

The SFMTA swiftly responded to the app's virality by obscuring the data Walz had been accessing, effectively rendering the real-time tracking inoperable. An SFMTA spokesperson confirmed that "all access to citation data was via authorized routes" and emphasized the agency's commitment to transparency while also prioritizing "the safety of staff, or the possibility of people’s personal information getting leaked." The agency also noted that it aims to patch a significant $322 million deficit, with parking citations serving as a crucial revenue stream.

The rapid shutdown sparked debate regarding public data access versus employee safety. Critics of the app raised concerns that revealing officers' real-time locations could expose them to harassment or assault. Walz, who does not own a car, stated his motivation was curiosity about the city's daily rhythms, having previously created data-driven projects like a "Bop Spotter" for music.

The incident highlights the ongoing tension between data transparency, public interest, and the operational security of municipal services. While the SFMTA maintains that parking citations are a tool for compliance and safety, the episode underscored the substantial revenue generated by San Francisco's parking enforcement efforts.