Google Bus Saga Continues: Supervisors Uphold Plan To Charge Buses

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Google employee Crystal Sholts, foreground, speaks in favor of employee shuttles in January.

Image: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

By Kurt Wagner2014-04-02 06:43:12 UTC

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to uphold a proposed pilot program that will charge commuter tech buses a small fee for using public bus stops to pickup and drop-off employees in San Francisco.

City supervisors voted 8-2 to continue plans for the program despite an appeal for an Environmental Impact Report to determine the effects the shuttle program may have on the local environment. Supporters of the program claim it will lead to fewer drivers on the road, and a full scale EIR isn't necessary since the program is a pilot intended for evaluation purposes, not a permanent program. Opponents of the shuttle program claim that forgoing an EIR is illegal.

See also: SF Imposes Fees on Tech Giants' Commuter Buses After Heated Debate

Richard Drury, legal counsel for opponents of the program, including Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, SEIU 1021, The League of Pissed Off Voters, and Housing Rights Committee Executive Director Sara Shortt, says that an EIR is necessary because of the California Environmental Quality Act. This act "requires state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible."

Drury says the city is already conducting an EIR for public transportation improvements for bus and subway routes (Muni), and tech companies should be held to the same standards. The pilot program also plans to add new bus stops, meaning there is little info on how these new stops will impact the environment.

"When we try to improve Muni, Muni has to do a full on EIR," he says. "But when Google wants to run illegal pirate shuttles, there's no CEQA review at all. That makes no sense whatsoever."

The pilot program, which was unanimously approved by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority's Board of Directors in January, seeks to charge tech giants $1 per shuttle stop, per day, beginning in July of 2014. Companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook, are currently using public bus stops to pick up and drop-off employees free of charge, a system that has resulted in multiple tech bus protests throughout San Francisco over the last few months.

Tech shuttle supporters claim the buses help reduce pollution and traffic congestion by taking cars off the road. Fees from the program will cost companies roughly $80,000 per year, and more than $100,000 for big companies like Google. With roughly 17 companies utilizing these shuttles, that means the city will bring in a few million dollar per year through the program.

Tech shuttle opponents claim that private buses clog up city bus routes, pose a risk to bikers, and have contributed to a rapid rate of gentrification within the city. They also claim the $1 per stop, per day charge is too small for these tech companies. Regular citizens who ride public transportation are charged $2 per ride.

Drury says that it is illegal for private vehicles to stop at public bus stops, citing State Vehicle Code 22500, an activity which results in a $271 fine for a San Francisco citizen, but only costs tech companies $1 under the proposed shuttle program. The city can't change state law, Drury says, which he claims the MTA did when it passed the proposed shuttle pilot program in January.

The other major issue is gentrification, a point of emphasis for those opposing the shuttle program altogether. Rents in San Francisco have skyrocketed in recent years, a fact that many believe has been caused, at least in part, by the influx of highly-paid tech workers who live in San Francisco and commute down to the Peninsula, where Google, Facebook, and Apple are located.

Opponents of the shuttle program claim that commuter shuttles have turned San Francisco into a "bedroom community," pushing out the low and middle-income families with high-salaried tech workers. Drury called San Francisco's Mission neighborhood "ground zero" for the gentrification issue, a neighborhood he described as "55% Latino, people of color, [and] overwhelmingly lower and moderate income."

"Those people are being displaced," he says. "They will require replacement housing. Either that or they'll live in the street."

Drury also cited a recent report that found tech buses cause $1 in damages to city roads for each mile they drive. If true, this is much more than the $1-per-stop fee the pilot program is implementing, and 100 times as much damage as done by a typical SUV, says Drury.

Numerous local residents voiced their opinion during the "public hearing" section of the meeting, which took almost seven hours. One commenter in a wheelchair claimed the tech shuttles keep the city buses from pulling all the way to the curb, making it harder for disabled residents to use public transit.

"CEQA doesn't mean stop the project," says Drury. "CEQA means study the project before you take action, and when you take action, impose mitigation measures and do it with your eyes wide open."

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Topics: gentrification, google bus, San Francisco-San Jose, Tech, tech bus, tech shuttles, U.S.