Deal OKd to study, limit controversial tech buses in SF

An employee rides a Google bike as a Google bus drives past the Google sign at Google's Mountain View headquarters Dec. 4, 2014 in Mountain View, Calif. An employee rides a Google bike as a Google bus drives past the Google sign at Google's Mountain View headquarters Dec. 4, 2014 in Mountain View, Calif. Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Deal OKd to study, limit controversial tech buses in SF 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

San Francisco’s controversial program allowing corporate shuttle buses to share Muni stops will continue — but only for a year and at just 125 locations under a deal approved Tuesday by the Municipal Transportation Agency.

During the year, a variety of city departments will study the shuttle program and how it’s affecting the city.

Directors completed the deal, which was negotiated early last month by three members of the Board of Supervisors and four major tech companies that haul thousands of employees between San Francisco and Silicon Valley campuses on sleek Wi-Fi-equipped tour buses.

Although several tech and biotech companies operate the shuttles, they’ve become commonly known as Google buses.

The deal stalls the chance that bureaucrats or the courts could order a detailed environmental impact report, which could have halted the project or delayed it for a couple of years.

Critics of the corporate shuttles say they speed gentrification, and wanted an environmental impact report to weigh the effects on the housing market as well as air quality.

Instead, under the plan approved by the MTA board, city departments will study the effect of the shuttle program on housing prices and monitor air quality near the shared bus stops. The city will also study whether the shuttles should operate differently, using existing transit hubs or creating a system using zones.

The plan calls for the program to be reviewed in six months.

The agency started the program in 2014 after the number of tech shuttle buses swelled, and after many of them were caught using Muni stops without permission, interfering with transit buses, tying up traffic and angering neighbors.

After an 18-month test, the MTA board voted in November to continue the program indefinitely, with increases in fees as well as the number of shared stops.

But critics appealed the decision not to require an environmental impact report to the Board of Supervisors, which led to the meetings with tech leaders and the deal approved Tuesday.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan