INFO PAGE

Strategy to Address Vehicular Homelessness and Restore Public Spaces

Overview

The legislation addressing vehicular homelessness under Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Breaking the Cycle plan was passed on July 22, 2025 and will be in effect at the end of August 2025. It will help hundreds of families living in vehicles access stable housing, reduce and prevent RV and vehicular homelessness, and reclaim public spaces for communities across the city. The law expands housing opportunities for families and individuals experiencing vehicular homelessness while creating new restrictions with enforcement to prevent people from living in large vehicles* on city streets long-term.

*Defined as vehicles over twenty-two feet in length or seven feet in height, or camp trailers, fifth-wheel travel trailers, house cars, trailer coaches, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, or semi-trailers as defined by the California Vehicle Code and Health and Safety Code.

Current State of Vehicular-Based Homelessness

As of May 2025, the Healthy Streets Operations Center (HSOC) identified 501 large vehicles, of which 437 are being used as dwellings across San Francisco. A significant concentration of these vehicles—39%—are located within the Bayview Police District with another 35% located in the Taraval District.

Who is living in Vehicles?

People living in vehicles in San Francisco represent a diverse group with varying circumstances. Broadly, they fall into three categories:

  • People Experiencing Homelessness:
    These individuals rely on their vehicles for shelter and safety as alternative housing.
  • Voluntary Mobile Residents:
    These individuals choose to live in vehicles as a lifestyle decision, often with a degree of financial flexibility. This group may seek the mobility, autonomy, or reduced living costs associated with vehicle dwelling.
  • Predatory Renting or Criminal Activity:
    This includes individuals who rent out multiple vehicles, operating outside of state and local residential tenant protection laws, and those engaged in illicit business activities.

A heatmap of vehicle locations illustrates the distribution and concentration of vehicle dwellings across the city, with notable clusters in southeastern and western neighborhoods.

Program Goals

The approach to addressing vehicular homelessness is grounded in compassion and coordination. The approach aims to:

Offer Pathway for Individuals and Families to Exit Vehicular Homelessness 

Implement innovative and humane strategies that reduce vehicular homelessness by:

  • Meeting the immediate safety and stability needs of individuals and families living in vehicles.
  • Creating clear pathways to permanent housing, focusing on those who are most vulnerable.

Restore Neighborhood Livability

Enhance public space, safety, and health by:

  • Managing and enforcing large vehicle parking in a fair and effective manner.
  • Ensuring public spaces remain accessible and clean, while prioritizing the dignity and well-being of those living in vehicles
  • Improving Efficiency Through Coordination

Maximize the impact of city efforts by:

  • Using data-driven approaches to guide resource allocation and response.
  • Strengthening interdepartmental collaboration across agencies.

Together, these efforts aim to support residents in need while promoting the health, safety, and wellbeing of all San Francisco communities.

Plan Overview

This strengthened interagency response to the vehicular homelessness crisis will pair a comprehensive outreach strategy that offers services with enforcement of new parking regulations—restoring public spaces while prioritizing the dignity and well-being of those living in vehicles. Key elements of the plan include:

  • Specialized Outreach: The city will deploy new outreach teams trained to work with people living in large vehicles, with language skills and trauma-informed care.
  • Comprehensive Service Offerings: Residents living in large vehicles in San Francisco as of May 2025 will be assessed for eligibility for:
    • Offers of Non-Congregate Interim or Permanent Housing: The city will make offers based on individual needs and eligibility. In his budget, Mayor Lurie expanded the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) family rapid rehousing subsidy program to support households living in large vehicles entering into stable housing.
    • Large Vehicle Buyback Program: The city will offer cash incentives to residents living in large vehicles in San Francisco as of May 2025 to relinquish their large vehicles as part of the large vehicle outreach program.
    • Large Vehicle Refuge Permit Program: Residents living in large vehicles as of May 2025, who are actively engaged in services and awaiting placement into non-congregate interim or permanent housing, may be eligible for a permit allowing temporary exemption from the two-hour parking rule.
  • Enforcement: Two-hour parking restrictions for large vehicles will be enforced citywide, with the exception of commercial vehicles actively loading or when parking in industrial zones. Vehicles without a valid large vehicle refuge permit will be subject to citation and potential towing in order ensure safe, accessible streets.
  • Improved Interagency Coordination: The Large Vehicle Task Force is designing an operations model that articulates clear interdepartmental roles and workflows, integrated data tracking and reporting systems, and defined performance metrics to guide progress, building on the city’s integrated neighborhood-based model for street outreach.

The plan was developed in close partnership with city departments on the Large Vehicle Task Force, including HSH, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, San Francisco Recreation and Parks, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Port of San Francisco, the Department of Public Health, the City Administrator’s Office and the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector.

HSH will lead vehicle-focused outreach to help connect people to available services within the Homelessness Response System, while SFMTA enforcement will be engaged with SFPD support as needed when towing services are required for vehicles in violation of the parking restriction after people have refused services or housing. Operations, which will begin in high-impact areas, will be coordinated by the DEM-led neighborhood street teams.

Questions or concerns?

Read the FAQs below or call 311.

To report a concern, call 3-1-1 or (415)701-2311 or choose the "Blocked Driveway/Illegal Parking" option on the SF311 app. Provide specific information about the location, number of vehicles, and any associated concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQ

People Living in RVs FAQ

Neighborhood, Residents & Businesses FAQ