Tourists might have a trickier time catching a glimpse of the Painted Ladies, if new rules banning tour buses from the area are approved.

This Friday at 10am, the SFMTA will hold a public hearing to consider whether to outlaw tour buses from a 25-square-block area around Alamo Square. There are two proposals under consideration. Option 1 would ban tour buses with more than nine seats from the streets bounded by Divisadero, Webster, Golden Gate, and Fell. A tour bus loading zone would be established on the northeast corner of Fell and Pierce, allowing buses "to stop for up to five minutes so passengers could get off the bus and walk to Alamo Square." "Employer buses" -- a.k.a. corporate shuttles -- would be exempt from the ban. Option 2 would differ from Option 1 in that it would allow tour buses to travel along Hayes Street without stopping. As the SFMTA puts it, "This option is intended to serve tour bus passengers who are not able to walk from Fell Street to Hayes Street." Employer buses would be allowed on Hayes, but not on other streets in the shaded area. In response to a story we posted in May of 2012, several readers cited noise, exhaust fumes, and illegal parking as their main frustrations with the tour buses in the area. Others credited tourists with supporting local businesses, and regarded the buses as a necessary evil of city life. If you have an opinion that you'd like to share with the SFMTA regarding the proposed ban, you can do so via email to [email protected] with the subject line "Public Hearing." You can also attend Friday's hearing at 10am at City Hall's Room 416. On Friday, a public hearing officer will decide which option -- if either -- to approve. That result will then be passed along to the full SFMTA board, which will make a final decision at a later date.