Sponsored link
Saturday, May 16, 2026

Sponsored link

City Beat: $1 billion fine for Google?

 

I’ve always thought San Francisco could use a Displacement and Neighborhood Impact Agency. I’ve argued that every major development, tax break, etc. should require not just an Environmental Impact Report but a Displacement Impact Report: How many San Franciscans will lose their homes, and how many nonprofits and small businesses will be forced out by the project? That way we could look at the tradeoffs: Is the Twitter tax break worth a few hundred evictions and commercial displacements?

So now, at least on the web, we have one. And the folks who have created it estimate that the fines Google and the other companies with private buses don’t pay for stopping in Muni bus stops (at $271 a pop for ordinary folks) are equal to $1 billon: There are more than 200 Muni stops that get used a total of 7,100 times a day. Add that up over two years (2011-2013) and you get a lot of cash. (more after the jump)

Marke B.
Marke B.
Marke Bieschke is the publisher and arts and culture editor of 48 Hills. He co-owns the Stud bar in SoMa. Reach him at marke (at) 48hills.org, follow @supermarke on Twitter.

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Sponsored link

Sponsored link
Sponsored link

Latest

Inside San Quentin, a new approach to rehabilitation and training

The Last Mile helps teach residents skills that will get them jobs on the outside. It's inspiring—but it's still a prison with too many people behind bars

Broad coalition urges No on B vote

Advocates say it's a solution in search of a problem.

Like her mother, sculptor Maryam Yousif is inspired by a Mesopotamian warrior queen

Iraqi artist's multitudinous clay explorations are powered by ancient myths, Arabian pop art, anonymous bloggers.

Through the looking glass at the National Queer Arts Festival

28th iteration dives into a 'Magic Mirror' of community reflection and ancestral resonance, with sound baths, Black astrology, more.

You might also likeRELATED