Tech money being used to create #publictransit apartheid in San Francisco

Dystopia by the Bay - NYTimes.com: "Here, transportation segregation is on the rise because you can’t rely on the public system. And when you put the working poor and middle class out of sight, you put them out of mind. The sleek fleet of Google-bound buses and black über-taxis is a market response to a costly, unreliable, unpleasant transit system."

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Free parking isn't free, it's #autosprawlsubsidy

Streetsblog San Francisco: "Don’t get me wrong — the fact that private shuttles are illegally using Muni stops without paying anything for it is unjust and unsustainable, as Monday’s protestors rightly called out. But those specific problems can be addressed by devoting more curb space to transit — both public and private — the vast majority of which is currently devoted to free, subsidized personal car storage. The SFMTA’s plans to convert car parking to shuttle stops and establish a private shuttle fee system are a step in the right direction."

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Car columnist sees the need for public transit

San Jose Mercury News: "More and more car makers are equipping their cars with more electronic gadgets and gizmos than I have in my home. One recently bragged about their "5G" connectivity and how it will allow people to basically turn their car into their living room/office/entertainment room. Is this really a good thing? I don't think it is.

...All of the technology in a modern car seems to be dumbing down drivers in my opinion. We really don't need safer vehicles; we need safer drivers. I doubt that we as a society will be able to put the lid back on the Pandora's Box of technological advances, or force people who are used to texting, eating, reading, doing their hair and shaving, etc. to stop these activities on the go. So maybe, just maybe the answer is to make public, mass transit more appealing."