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Google Co-Opts Whale-Watching Boat To Ferry Employees
theodp writes "Purportedly intended to defuse tensions over gentrification that have led to blockades and vandalism of Google's ubiquitous shuttles (video), which make use of public San Francisco bus stops (map), Wired reports that Google is now chartering a ferry to take its workers from SF to Silicon Valley. 'We certainly don't want to cause any inconvenience to SF residents, and we're trying alternative ways to get Googlers to work,' Google explained. Inconveniencing whale-seeking visitors to The Aquarium of the Pacific, however, is apparently not considered evil. After learning that Google had co-opted the $4 million, 83-foot, 150-passenger whale-watching catamaran MV/Triumphant to ferry as few as 30-40 Googlers to work, some expressed concerns on Facebook that Google would be The Grinch That Stole Whale Watching Season (not to worry; the boat's slated to make its 'triumphant' return to Long Beach after Google's '30-day trial')."
Google is being purposefully obtuse here. The buses themselves aren't the problem. The problem is that the cheapest 1brs in SF cost $2800/month. it used to be that gentrification kicked out the poor. Now SF is becoming a city for the 1%, and the 99% can no longer afford to be there. an especially visible target are google and twitter kids in mission who turn a vibrant ethnic neighborhood into Sharon Green in palo alto.