San Francisco Supervisors Split Over Extension of Tech Shuttle Bus Program

San Francisco faces a renewed political battle over tech company shuttles plying the city's streets.

Members of the Board of Supervisors' moderate faction are disputing colleagues' claims that technology firms are on board with a tentative agreement that could impose new restrictions on how the shuttle buses operate. One of the moderates, Supervisor Scott Wiener, says the real intent of the reported deal is "to make the shuttles go away."

Earlier this week, Supervisors David Campos, Norman Yee and London Breed announced they had brokered a tentative agreement with tech companies that would grant a one-year extension for a city program that allows the shuttles to use Muni bus stops in return for a fee.

The firms involved in the talks include Google, Apple, Facebook and Genentech. Thousands of workers for those companies and others ride the shuttles every day to get to and from campuses on the Peninsula and in Silicon Valley.

The prospective deal also calls for a six-month review that would assess the shuttles' impact on air pollution and traffic congestion. The review would also consider capping the number of Muni stops the shuttles could use at 125, creating centralized stops or hubs for some shuttle routes and barring the big buses from narrow neighborhood streets.

The agreement would allow the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to avoid, for now, a full environmental impact report on the shuttle program.

News of the deal provoked angry responses from Wiener and Supervisor Mark Farrell, who accused Campos et al. of trying to kill the tech shuttles by making it harder for them to operate. Farrell and Wiener were joined by Supervisor Katy Tang on Tuesday in voting against a resolution to delay action on extending the shuttle program.

"There is no need to delay the program further with politically motivated, nonbinding recommendations that have not been vetted by any transportation experts," Farrell said in an email after the vote.

"The continued delay of this vote -- and the proposed changes to the shuttle program by several of my colleagues -- are nothing more than an effort to tear down the shuttle system," Wiener said.

He said some shuttle riders would have to take at least one Muni bus to get to prospective hubs, adding more time to their commute and probably leading more of them to drive to work.

"That's the intent of the supervisors who are pushing this -- to make the shuttles go away and, they hope, the tech workers with them," Wiener said.

Wiener and a spokesman for the Bay Area Council, a business lobbying group, question whether the tech companies ever agreed to the deal Campos described.

"There is no formal agreement on proposed amendments to the approved shuttle program," said Rufus Jeffris, vice president of communications for the council. He said talks involving the tech companies, the council, the SFMTA and members of the Board of Supervisors are ongoing.

"It's confounding to see how a program that is removing 2 million car trips a year from our congested roads and highways is not viewed as a major benefit for all San Francisco residents," said Jeffris.

Of the companies involved in the negotiations, only Genentech responded to requests for comment.

"We are hopeful that all parties involved in ongoing discussions around the shuttle program will work together to reach a resolution that will take cars off the road and allow employees to commute to work in a practical and environmentally sustainable way," said Susan Wilson, a Genentech spokeswoman.

Campos said Thursday the talks are ongoing. "I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to finalize the tentative agreement," he said.

Program critics say the shuttles have accelerated gentrification and displacement in many San Francisco neighborhoods and have been pressing the Board of Supervisors to require an environmental review.

The SFMTA has studied the idea of "hubs" in the past.

The Glen Park and Balboa BART stations, Candlestick Point, Alemany Farmers' Market and the future Transbay Terminal were reviewed as potential hub locations, according to a memo the transit agency sent to the Board of Supervisors last week.

Tom Maguire, who heads the agency's Sustainable Streets initiative, wrote that for a hub to serve as a feasible location, it would need to have enough space for dozens of shuttles every hour, be available during morning and afternoon peak hours, and be accessible to mass transit and nearby highways.

"There is limited physical space, if any, to accommodate the commuter shuttle buses in one concentrated location," Maguire said. "Concentrating commuter shuttles at hubs could have more intense air quality impacts and roadway congestion than the adopted program's distributed network."