Google, which has been at the center of a controversy in San Francisco over tech company shuttles using public infrastructure, is giving $6.8 million to fund a city transit program.
The program, whose city funding runs out in June, provides monthly bus and streetcar passes to 31,000 low-income San Francisco youths ages 5 to 17. It began last year after the San Francisco school system reduced the use of buses transporting students to and from school. The program gets youths to school, after-school programs and jobs.
Mayor Ed Lee’s office called the gift “one of the largest private contributions towards direct City services in San Francisco history.” Google will fund the program for two years.
Protests against Google began with anti-eviction activists, angered by the increasing gentrification of San Francisco, blocking its commuter shuttles that run down to the valley. The private shuttles use city bus stops to load and unload their passengers, which prompted lots of ire among less privileged residents. A resolution worked out with the city means Google and other tech companies will pay $1 per stop.
On Feb. 15, members of Heart of the City interrupted the Wisdom 2.0 conference. As three Google speakers introduced a presentation on “Three Steps to Build Corporate Mindfulness the Google Way,” demonstrators rushed the stage with an “Eviction-Free San Francisco” banner.
“San Francisco residents are rightly frustrated that we don’t pay more to use city bus stops,” said Meghan Casserly, a Google spokeswoman. “So we’ll continue to work with the city on these fees, and in the meantime will fund Muni passes for low-income students for the next two years.”
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