Google Gives $6.8-Million for Transit Passes for S.F. Kids

Google, whose private shuttles for its Bay Area employees have crystallized discontent over the tech boom’s disproportionate economic impact on San Francisco, announced a $6.8-million donation Thursday to cover free public-transit passes for low-income youths, the San Francisco Chronicle writes.

Mayor Ed Lee hailed the gift as a first step in what he said would be a series of moves by big firms to address a backlash over skyrocketing property prices and a wave of evictions, widely blamed on the influx of high-income techies into city neighborhoods. “This is so dramatically exciting because it’s a catalyst for other companies,” Mr. Lee said.

Local activists have seized on Google’s own buses, which are given free use of San Francisco bus stops to ferry workers to offices outside the city, as a symbol of technology giants’ aloofness to their impact on low- and middle-income residents. The Google gift to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency followed talks between city Supervisor David Chiu and company executives about boosting the firm’s civic engagement.