Sponsored link
Friday, February 27, 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

Latest

YBCA’s ‘Conjuring Power’ grounds hope for LGBTQ+ future in shared history

Ester Hernández, Serge Gay Jr., Crystal Mason, Tanya Wischerath, and others carry on distinctly SF practice of world-building.

See a show for free at Lost Church in March

Flamenco, comedy, variety, music: Catch something unique at the independent North Beach venue. But act fast.

The real story behind Muni’s budget deficit

Instead of investing in public transit, City Hall has been looking for ways to privatize it

Lurie plan would nearly eliminate the Department of the Environment

Protesters say 80 percent cut would imperil Climate Action Plan

You might also likeRELATED