San Francisco's bus wars are a proxy fight against gentrification

[marmar]

from the LA Times:



San Francisco's bus wars are a proxy fight against gentrification
As wealthy tech industry types move into some neighborhoods at the expense of current residents, the private buses carrying high-tech workers to their jobs have become a flashpoint.

By The Times editorial board
January 24, 2014

Commuter buses are usually pretty noncontroversial. Governments like them because they get single-passenger cars off the road and reduce air pollution. And riders like them because they can relax on the way to and from work and save on gas and other expenses. Cleaner, greener and more convenient — everyone's happy, right?

Not in San Francisco, where there's been a growing fight over the shuttle buses provided by Google, Facebook and other tech companies to ferry workers from their San Francisco homes to their Silicon Valley jobs. Critics say the shuttles stop at city bus stops, delaying public transit and causing bicyclists to swerve out of bike lanes. Activists have protested by blocking buses. In one case, they slashed the tires of a Google bus and hurled a rock through a window.

All this fury over some buses? Not really. The fight against the shuttles is really a proxy fight against rising rents and gentrification, as wealthy tech industry types move into some neighborhoods at the expense of current residents.

On Tuesday, San Francisco transportation officials adopted a compromise designed to address specific concerns with the shuttles. During an 18-month pilot program, the agency will designate public bus stops that can be shared by the shuttles. Tech companies will apply for permits for their buses and pay $1 each time one of the buses makes a stop, which will cover the cost of the permitting and enforcement. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-google-bus-san-francisco-20140123,0,5252076.story#ixzz2rWPeGBaz

[jsr]

1. Indigenous people attempt to repel invading rich tech hipsters

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. The fight against gentrification in one of the most expensive zip codes in the US?

Sorry. These are first world problems.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. I know some card carrying "dirty old hippies" and

They like the "techies" a whole lot more than their old neighbors who were mostly dreadlocked white kids who stuffed half a dozen or more people in a studio apartment, were loud and drunk every night and panhandled not half a block away with aggressive dogs.