S.F. to charge operators of tech commuter buses

[marmar]

Employee shuttle buses for Silicon Valley technology and Peninsula biotech firms, which have become a symbol of income disparity in San Francisco, will soon be charged for using public bus stops, city officials said Monday.

The agreement among the city, shuttle operators and the companies that use them had been in the works for months, but the issue took on added urgency in recent weeks as tenant advocates and other protesters blocked Google buses in San Francisco and Oakland. In San Francisco's Mission District last month, protesters blocked a bus carrying tech workers for about half an hour. Days later, demonstrators carrying a banner that read "F- off Google" broke a window of a bus at the West Oakland BART Station.

Fairly or not, the air-conditioned, Wi-Fi-equipped buses and their passengers have become the most tangible symbol in the backlash against the city's tech boom as longtime San Francisco residents and others try to cope with soaring housing prices and commercial rents, which have been blamed for forcing out tenants, artists and nonprofits.

But blaming tech workers - and targeting their method of transport - is misguided, said San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose district includes the Castro and part of the Mission. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-to-charge-operators-of-tech-commuter-buses-5118477.php