The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will be charging Google Inc, Apple Inc and other Silicon Valley tech firms $1 each time any of their commuter shuttles will use a public bus stop, Reuters reported. However, the report said it appeared unlikely that the deal would halt the recent backlash of some residents against the technology industry.
The technology companies' commuter buses bring around 17,000 passengers daily to their offices in Silicon Valley located south of the city from their San Francisco homes, the report said.
The transportation agency gave its unanimous approval to the 18-month pilot program which comes at a time when the buses have become the obvious targets of activists who are not too pleased with the increasing housing prices in the area, the report said.
Media reports said protestors blocked two technology firms in San Francisco just hours before the Tuesday, January 21 meeting for the deal. In the past few weeks, protesters have blocked several buses of Google. In Oakland, an incident broke the window of one of the search giant's bus, the report said.
Critics, however, said the current program was not enough. San Francisco League of Pissed-Off Voters representative Cynthia Crews was quoted in the report as saying in the meeting as, "Charging $1 per bus per stop is a joke."
Estimates from the city said the program will generate $100,000 for every company that will use the buses or a total of around $1.5 million, the report said.
Several employees of Google and workers for shuttle firms also appeared at the meeting to express their support for the program. Some said they might otherwise be compelled to use their car to go to work and add to the traffic in the city and harm the environment in the process, the report said.
Google told Reuters through email, "We believe the pilot program is a critical step in that direction."
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