It's not enough for big tech companies to provide awesome perks like comped lunches, free childcare, stock options, and more; they lately have had some need to establish their own transportation infrastructure as well. Problem: their solutions—luxury commuter buses that cart workers to and from the city—are clogging up traffic in ways that range from annoying to dangerous. The police force has started being generous in citations, even as a higher-up attempts a macro-solution with the likes of Google, eBay, PayPal, and Yahoo. Interestingly, the city never granted permission for the shuttles to make such stops. While individual shuttle drivers have licenses that allow them to do so, we're betting the original intent was for stopping on a spot basis depending on varying jobs (events, special tours, etc). In effect, Silicon Valley companies paying shuttles to go the same route every single work day institutionalizes a second bus system that didn't need to take into account all the things that our transit commissions do when putting bus stops in place or addressing traffic and safety considerations. A Google spokesflack said: "We are taking over 1,200 cars off the road every day in the Bay Area. We’re trying to make it easier for people to live in The City and still work for Google.” Laudable, true—if just a tad bit myopic.
· Shuttles cause parking-control headache [Examiner]
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