The shuttle buses that transport workers for huge tech firms like Google, Facebook, and Apple between San Francisco and Silicon Valley every day have come under heavy fire lately, but today a vote was passed unanimously on a pilot program that the city hopes will help ease those tensions. In front of a meeting room packed full with journalists and citizens, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) just approved a proposal that will see commuter shuttle buses pay to share approximately 200 spots with city buses.
Companies that operate the buses will soon have to pay $1 for every stop they make, every day, to the SFMTA — amounting to about $1.5 million over the 18-month pilot (set to start in July 2014). The agency won’t earn any profit from the money it collects, though; instead, it’ll use the fees to cover the new permit program, enforcement, and further evaluation of the pilot. Prior to today, Silicon Valley shuttles typically would use SFMTA bus stops throughout the city without express permission, leading to potential traffic snarls — as well as a sentiment that these companies were taking advantage of the city without giving anything back.
This seems fair and, hopefully, will satisfy both sides.
So Apple and Google are just going to pay $1.5 million for more useless bureaucracy created solely to make them pay $1.5 million?
I think they should charge more. Maybe two dollars? I do think it’s unfair that Apple and Google can piggyback on public infrastructure like roads for free. Of course, useless bureaucracy is also dumb, so I’d actually rather the government made a profit off of this.
The agency won’t earn any profit from the money it collects, though;
instead, it’ll use the fees to cover the new permit program,
enforcement, and further evaluation of the pilot.
So, like Mike said, they’ll pay $1.5 million to pay for … enforcing that they pay the $1.5 million?
It combines “screw the upstarts” and “make some new phoney-baloney never-ending unproductive City jobs” in a perfect example of exactly why San Francisco should be run away from at top speed.
For free?
Are they not paying fuel taxes like everyone else?
Property taxes, and more of same via their employees, who are the ones directly reaping the benefit?
If Apple/Google should get Special Extra Charges “because they’re using roads”, then so should every user, for exactly the same reason.
Makes sense. Don’t want to abuse the commons.
If EVERYONE — ALL TAX PAYERS– in SF can’t use the SFMTA bus stops as they wish then neither should Google or Apple.
It has nothing to do with using the roads. It is about using the bus stops, but not using and paying for the transit system for which the bus stops are provided.
This town’s Board of Simpletons strike again! This is so friction ridiculous it’s the kind of mad BS you’d expect from Berkeley
All a bus top is a piece of road with some white lines painted around it. It would serve SF right if the Apple and Google buses just stopped in the middle of the street to pick up their riders.
No, an SFMTA transit stop is an SFMTA transit stop, period. It is not part of the pubic road infrastructure. The SFMTA transit stops are created and maintained for SFMTA vehicles and riders only. They are cleaned by SFMTA, the garbage cans emptied by SFMTA. It is illegal to use them for private vehicles, especially private commercial transportation like taxis or Google buses. The fine per incident is $271, so Google owes over $500 million just by itself.
People who were not rich Silicon Valley millionaires have been assessed this fine for dropping off an SFMTA rider at an SFMTA stop, which is an abuse of a law that was designed to prevent private transportation providers from abusing the SFMTA infrastructure. And the SFMTA spends $9 million per year policing fare jumpers (recovering only $1 million per year) and has even shot a guy who didn’t pay his fare.
But Google — they can lobby for a tax break so that they don’t contribute to SFMTA, then decide that SFMTA is too gritty for their delicate hinies, then just use SFMTA infrastructure as they please, in violation of the law, because they tell us that they are reducing carbon emissions compared to everybody driving. Which is what SFMTA has been doing for over 100 years, which Google already showed was not important to them when they lobbied for lower taxes so they didn’t have to pay into SFMTA.
I’m also disappointed in Apple for doing this, but at least Apple paid 25% in tax per year. Google pays more like 5%.
It is pretty shocking to see you guys act like Google is the victim here. Imagine if FedEx didn’t have its own stores but just expected to work out of the US Post Office for free.
Except our biggest problem here in San Francisco is too many people running here at top speed. Especially rich people.
Why is Google paying $1.5 million?
Google are paying $1.5 million to avoid the over $500 million in fines they have run up with their illegal activity. It is $271 per incident for private vehicles to stop at an SFMTA transit stop. This is not Google being victimized — they are being let off the hook for breaking the law with a slap on the wrist.
During the time that SFMTA failed to assess any fines against Google, they assessed millions of dollars in fines against private individuals. Google and other giant corporations — they just let them do whatever they liked, in total violation of the letter and spirit of the law. THAT is what has created the tension in San Francisco: the 2-tier system where only poor people can violate the law and rich people or companies get a pass.
So the convoluted manner in which this fine was assessed is pro-corporate, not anti-corporate. Google is saving over a half a billion dollars in fines that they ran up because they felt that they were entitled to just take what they want from the community without asking the community, without any vote from the community, all because they are so damn high on themselves that they lack respect for other people.
Would it serve SFMTA commuters right? Would you enjoy the traffic problems caused by your suggestion if you lived there?