The City of San Francisco is pulling the plug on its controversial and costly Bayview Vehicle Triage Center – about three years after it was opened.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the decision by the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing was made because of significantly rising costs and the site’s failure to draw larger numbers of residents.
The site has space for 30 vehicles. Case managers will work with residents of the site – most living out of RVs, trailers and other vehicles – to find permanent housing, transitional shelters or will help provide repairs for their vehicles.
Shireen McSpadden, the executive director of the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, told the Chronicle that most residents of the triage center do not want permanent housing.
The decision to close the site comes just two months after the city was able to provide a reliable source of power there.The city has invested more than 15-and-half million dollars in capital and operating costs at the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center, at an estimated cost of about $140,000-a-year per vehicle.
The project failed to make a dent in San Francisco’s growing numbers of people living out of vehicles. According to the city, more than 1,400 people currently live out of RVs, trailers or other vehicles – an increase of nearly 40 percent in two years.
The closing of the triage center, which was opened amid opposition by some community groups, comes after the recent increased sweeps by city officials to clear homeless encampments.
