Thanks for thinking of me on this one BL.
In VMC the CVFPs are utilized at SFO. Historically in IMC only one runway could be used so the ILS Runway 28R was used ONLY and runway 28L was shut down. This cut the airport's arrival capacity by 50% and caused significant delays!
More recently SFO can do simultaneous IMC arrivals thanks to the
LDA PRM Rwy 28R and
ILS PRM Rwy 28L approaches. The LDA approach includes a glideslope, making it not unlike the old IGS Rwy 13 at Kai Tak. You probably recall seeing the PRM monitors when we toured NCT. Unfortunately due to staffing constraints at NCT I've heard the PRM is barely ever used, despite the fact that all of the equipment is in place and ready for use! I guess they can't afford to pay an extra guy to look at the screen and make sure no one flies off course into the red box (No Transgression Zone)...
In regards to EWR, I believe they also fall into single runway ops during IMC. 7110.65 5-5-4 Radar Separation Minima says "Consider parallel runways less 2500 ft apart as a single runway because of the possible effects of wake turbulence." In VMC I don't think it's unheard of from them to chain up a bunch of simultaneous in trail visual approaches, so I'm surprised to hear the side-by landings don't happen there more.
Regards,
Inigo