According to a recently conducted poll, the Google buses aren't really to blame for the city's problems.
The poll was commissioned by the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored, public policy advocacy organization. Of the 500 likely voters they called, 57% said they "have a favorable view of the shuttles."
And 67% support allowing the commuter shuttles a limited number of public bus stops. Of course 72% were in support of charging the shuttles on a cost-recovery basis to use the bus stops.
"Do you support or oppose allowing employee shuttle buses to pick up and drop off passengers at a limited number of Muni bus stops in San Francisco?" is one of the questions that people were asked by Oakland, Calif.,-based EMC Research, according to CBS San Francisco.
The poll also asked people what they thought of the tech boom in San Francisco. Not surprisingly, 79% said they have a favorable view of the tech sector. And 63 percent disagree that commuter shuttles are a symbol of the city's problems.
"Voters indisputably support growing the economy and creating jobs in San Francisco, and believe the technology sector is playing an important role in doing that," said Jim Wunderman, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, in a statement.
As SFist notes, the problem in San Francisco isn't the Google buses themselves — it's rent prices and lack of affordable housing. This also runs counter to what some are calling "hate crimes" against the tech industry in the Bay Area.