SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Private shuttle buses, which are used by many tech companies to transport employees in San Francisco to campuses in Silicon Valley, might face stricter regulations in the near future.

Many residents have complained the buses are becoming a major traffic problem in the city.

San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos has proposed that the city begin regulating these corporate shuttle buses by using a permit system for operators.

“Right now, we don’t really have any real regulation to determine how they’re going to be fitting next to Muni and what neighborhoods they’re in,” Avalos said. “We should draw up a permit process for them to operate here so that we actually can minimize the impact to other things that have to work here for transportation and transit.”

Currently, the shuttle buses make stops at nearly 200 locations around San Francisco, many of which are Municipal Transportation Agency bus stops. And much of the time, they are impacting Muni service when they drop off and pick up passengers

Avalos said the shuttles are great because they do take many cars off the road.

New policies are expected to be looked at in the coming months with possible implementation as early as next year.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)