What Would Google Bus Commuters Do if the Google Bus Didn't Exist?

At the end of an emotional, marathon meeting on Tuesday night in San Francisco, the city's Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors unanimously approved an 18-month pilot project that will permit private shuttles run by Silicon Valley tech firms to use public bus stops for a fee. In theory, this agreement benefits both parties: Companies like Google and Apple are able to recruit talented tech workers who don't want to live in Mountain View with free transportation from their San Francisco homes. San Francisco, in turn, doesn't have to deal with all of these people trying to commute every morning by private car.

The shuttle service supposedly takes cars off the road. More than one tech worker got up at the meeting Tuesday to make this point about sustainability. This thinking, though, assumes that most of these Silicon Valley employees would drive to work from San Francisco without these shuttles, rather than move out of the city and closer to work. If the latter is true, then these private shuttles could contribute to a regional imbalance in jobs and housing.