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Google Funds San Francisco Bus Rides For Poor
theodp writes "The LA Times reports that Google will fund free bus passes for low- and middle-income kids in a move to quiet the controversy surrounding tech-driven gentrification in San Francisco. In a statement, Google said, 'San Francisco residents are rightly frustrated that we don't pay more to use city bus stops. So we'll continue to work with the city on these fees, and in the meantime will fund MUNI passes for low income students [an existing program] for the next two years.' SF Mayor Ed Lee said, 'I want to thank Google for this enormous gift to the SFMTA, and I look forward to continuing to work with this great San Francisco employer towards improving our City for everyone.' But not all were impressed. 'It's a last-minute PR move on their part, and they're trying to use youth unfairly to create a better brand image in the city,' said Erin McElroy of the SF Anti-Eviction Mapping Project."
Should this mythical land of the free allow you to run a bus service with vehicles that are a menace to its passengers or other road users? Without proper education of it's bus drivers? Without any insurance? Would you mind if this bus service cherry-picks the profitable routes, so that companies that try to offer more balanced public transport go bankrupt?
The current plan is to allow the children of the peasants to gather windfall in the orchards of Google. This costs Google a tiny fraction of it's vast wealth, and makes it seem that they care about the peasants, because they are selflessly helping the children! Hopefully the stupid peasants will shut up and gratefully accept this bright trinket, so the serious project of evicting them from their land can continue unimpeded.
Don't (get caught) doing evil.
Why is Snark Required?
Yeah, Obama did it all. Bush didn't get us into two wars without funding and let wall street destroy the housing and banking systems. That Obama guy wrecked EVERYTHING!
With the Google-driven gentrification of the Bay Area, Google expects the poor people to have been driven away thanks to rising rents before long.
This is really a cynical move by Google. If they really wanted to do something for poor people, they'll build some dormitories for their employees to live in so people who have lived in a neighborhood all their lives, raised kids in their house and hoped to spend the rest of their lives there won't find themselves priced out of their own homes by a bunch of rich weenies moving in all around them.
Fuck Google. I don't trust them one bit.
You are welcome on my lawn.
So people who make less money than you are also less than human?
If you can't appreciate why gentrification is a problem, I suggest that you're living in quite a bubble.