Protestors Blockade Google Bus in San Francisco

[Newsjock]

Last edited Mon Dec 9, 2013, 04:48 PM - Edit history (4)

http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/protestors-blockade-google-bus-24th-and-mission



A group of protestors, angered by rising rents and neighborhood gentrification, blocked a parked Google bus filled with workers from departing from the corner of 24th and Mission this morning. Bearing mock traffic signs that said "Two-Tiered System" and "Illegal Use of Public Infrastructure," what appeared to be a dozen neon-vested activists stood in front and behind the bus, preventing it from leaving. According to reports from the scene, the bus departed after an hour.

According to a flyer handed out by protestors at the scene and their website, the activists—who called themselves the "San Francisco Displacement and Neighborhood Impact Agency"—demanded that tech firms pay $1 billion to the city for what they call "illegal" use of MUNI bus stops. Those funds, they went on to say, could be used to fund affordable housing, eviction defense, and a halt to Ellis Act evictions.

[hr]
http://www.sfbg.com/googleshoutdown

Google employee on bus, to protestor: "Why don't you go to a city that can afford it? This is a city for the right people who can afford it. You can't afford it? You can leave. I'm sorry, get a better job." Update: "Googler" now revealed to be fake: http://www.businessinsider.com/googler-taunts-protesters-2013-12

[snooper2]

1. Really? ROFL

They could have at least gone to the next step and provided bicycles to everyone on the bus.


Off the bus now! Here is a bike-

But I live 42 miles from here?

No complaining, start peddling LOL

[Newsjock]

2. It happens every day

http://sf2g.com

Loosely organized and tightly knit, SF2G is a group of cyclists in the Bay Area that commutes from San Francisco down the Peninsula to Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and all parts in-between.

[Luminous Animal]

8. Evictions and displacement are at an all time high

in this city. It is no joke.

[Decaffeinated]

3. What an odd article...

... that is amazing in its total lack of relevant information.

[Jesus Malverde]

4. Nice..

Google is is Mountain View, California a long ways from San Francisco. These buses allow the google employee to live in San Francisco without the hassle of a commute or buying into the existing public transportation infrastructure. There is already a train that goes between san francisco and mountain view.

Rather than lobby to improve this transit link so that it would benefit all, google and many other companies have built parallel private systems for their employees.

These private transit systems in san francisco use the public bus stops impeding regular municipal bus traffic while contributing nothing to the upkeep of the public system.

If google employees had to rely on public transportation or drive themselves they would not be living here very long.

[arcane1]

6. Indeed, I take BART for 40 minutes each way to work, from SF to Contra Costa

I'm at least paying for that.

[Jesus Malverde]

10. You and I are invested in the community. Those guys not so much...nt

[Luminous Animal]

7. And that is it in a nutshell!

And then the employees will get married, have kids, and move out I the city.

[snooper2]

9. So Google is doing something good for their employees, and because they are a company it's "evil"

"impeding regular municipal bus traffic"

Really?


Most of the time there ISN'T a DART bus stopped at the bus stop around the corner from my work. When there is, it's there for 20-30 seconds LOL.

So what it sounds like, is if Google just gave the money to run their buses as tax revenue to San Fran so this sticker could be put on the side a few folks would be happy?

[Jesus Malverde]

11. How about subsidizing caltrain.

Have you ever made that commute? It's brutal.

It would be nice if they put their political capital towards completing the caltrain to translink center connection and the switch to electric trains.

[Xithras]

14. The squeaky wheels are just getting their few minutes of exposure in before the rules change.

Mass transit is a good thing, and this idiotic notion that mass transit is only "good" if it's run by the government is beyond moronic. Whether we're talking about ridesharing or company commuter buses, the GOAL is to get as many cars off the road as possible. Google (and other companies like them) run some of their buses into San Francisco because THAT'S WHERE THEIR EMPLOYEES LIVE. If not for the buses, most would just drive their cars to work every day.

MTA has been working on a plan for about half a year that will fix the issue once and for all. They will be establishing rules and granting permits to these buses to eliminate any claims that they're "illegal". In return, the companies will be paying for those permits, and the money will help to offset any infrastructure expenses the buses may be creating.

The protesters have to know that the plan is going before the board next month, and that their claims that the companies are somehow "taking advantage" of the city (by parking at a CURB on a PUBLIC STREET) will go out the window after that.

Some people will protest anything...especially in San Francisco (and I love the city dearly, so that wasn't meant as a slight).

[Retrograde]

12. The train's already packed in the mornings

they can't add more cars because the platforms aren't long enough, and adding more trains without replacing existing grade crossings means cross-Peninsula traffic is impeded. Adding more commuter vehicles to 101 and 280 isn't a solution, either. The problem is that the Bay Area population has doubled in the last 30 years, and the infrastructure hasn't been able to keep up. And it's going to get worse, as new high-density neighborhoods continue to be built in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Google's not the only company doing this: if you're unlucky enough to be on 101 between 8 and 9 AM you'll see a lot of buses and large vans, mostly unmarked, taking employees to work. Also, Google and other companies run shuttles from the train stations to their sites. There's discussion about whether this should be taxed as an employee benefit or not.

I'm glad I'm retired.

[seveneyes]

15. use the public bus stops impeding regular municipal bus traffic

And blocking these buses from leaving help that how? As for investing in public infrastructure, doesn't living in Frisco mean the taxes they pay there help fund public infrastructure?

[arcane1]

5. I was hoping they were protesting Google's support of ALEC.

[Niceguy1]

13. what jerks,

I am sure there aee ways to protest without making everyone late for work..and distrupting traffic around them.

You don't gain support by screwing up peoples commute

[Jesus Malverde]

16. Would we be talking about this otherwise....

I think not. All it took was six dudes some wood and paint and the media..

Trust me, something will happen as a result of these actions. The city is under siege and everyone not involved in the tech community is getting angry. There are billions of dollars of tech money flowing into the area and the effects have been devastating. Never has San Francisco lost so many working class, minorities, and LGBT then in the past few years.

[Niceguy1]

17. you don't make friends

By screwing their day up.... and how do you control how people choose tonspwnd their money?

[Jesus Malverde]

18. Union organizer impersonates Google employee, shouts down SF protesters

Making your own controversy, I guess..

http://www.sfbg.com/googleshoutdown