San Francisco May Get Rid Of Some Parking Spots To Make Room For The Much-Hated Tech Shuttles

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is considering removing some parking spaces in the city in order to make room for private shuttles.

It's become common practice for Silicon Valley-based tech firms, like Google, Apple, and Facebook, to shuttle their employees to and from work on Wi-Fi-equipped private buses with cushy, leather seats.

Some people have argued that these tech shuttles are the cause of gentrification, mass displacements, and increased housing costs in San Francisco.

If a proposal for the Commuter Shuttle Pilot goes through as planned, those tech shuttles would also reduce the number of parking spots. As part of the proposal, the city of San Francisco would extend the length of some Muni bus stops so that they can share the space with tech shuttles. (Tech buses tend to be bigger than Muni buses.) That means the city would have to remove some parking spaces.

In total, Muni says it would only take away 35 spaces in neighborhoods across the city, CBS 5 reports.

But finding a place to park in San Francisco can be incredibly difficult. Sometimes you can drive around for 30 minutes before actually finding a place to park. In Alamo Square - one of the areas that could be affected - it usually takes about at least 45 minutes, San Francisco resident Aviva Cusher told CBS 5.

The city announced the pilot program back in January. Despite lawsuits from anti-displacement groups, the city still plans to launch the program on Aug. 1.

The Sustainable Streets Division and the SFMTA are holding a hearing today to let the public weigh in on the 18-month-long Commuter Shuttle Pilot.

Check out the full proposal here.