Protestors in Clown Gear Block Another Google Bus
SFPD shouting "sidewalk!" at onesie-clad protesters to clear #googlebus protest. Bus just pulled away. pic.twitter.com/iI9ufIyk8J
— Ellen Huet (@ellenhuet) April 1, 2014
Google Bus blocked at 24th and Valencia. Bus honking at protesters. pic.twitter.com/fHiVNgk2xV
— Ellen Huet (@ellenhuet) April 1, 2014
SFPD dissolving Google Bus protest. Protester has fake Google glass. pic.twitter.com/9inTwjhdnQ
— Ellen Huet (@ellenhuet) April 1, 2014
More stilts, can can dancing, acrobatics at #googlebus protest. CEQA appeal hearing 2pm today. pic.twitter.com/d8rdWj4tmt
— Ellen Huet (@ellenhuet) April 1, 2014
Protest organizers provided me with the following, via email:
Visuals: Google themed blocade of Google Bus Parody introducing a new "Google" product called "GMuni"—where San Franciscans can ride the Google Bus for free now that Muni is in crisis, and a fair hike is imminent.
BACKGROUND STATEMENT Since 2007 private shuttles, a.k.a. "Google buses", have been using our tax payer-funded public bus stops illegally. SFMTA has made backroom hand-shake deals with these wealthy corporations to turn a blind eye, while ticketing the public $271 if they stop in a MUNI zone. This is just one example of the two-tier system that exists in SF, the city with the fastest growing inequality gap in the country.
Tomorrow SFMTA will decide if these corporations can continue to use the stops for a mere $1 per private bus per public bus stop, which will only cover the cost of implementing the new program, even though ticketing for their illegal activity would generate approximately $500 million per year. MUNI needs money to improve its services, and the way to do so is to collect fees and fines from the companies who've been breaking the law and using our infrastructure for the past 8 years, not by raising the fares to the public - many of whom earn exponentially less than the average tech worker on the Google bus making $101K per year.
The second tech boom has brought us:
-No fault evictions up 83%
-Ellis Act evictions up 170% over the past year
-Rents up 20% in areas where the Google buses stop
-Average 1 bedroom median rents of $3400 -A whiter, richer, less equal, less diverse population
-Less kids per capita than anywhere in the country
-Displacement of elders and long-time residents, and businesses
-and more! The last thing we should give private corporations is our public assets!