The "shuttle effect" in San Francisco

[KamaAina]

http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/03/19/paying-more-to-be-near-a-company-shuttle-stop/

We’ve written in recent weeks about how real estate in Silicon Valley is starting to sizzle, with recent transactions going above asking with multiple offers and all cash. For many employees of Apple, Google, Facebook and the like, the desire to live within a reasonable proximity seems to have created an abnormally hot real estate market in certain pockets of the Peninsula and the South Bay.

Some techies, while they may work in the Valley, prefer to leave the corporate campus and return home to a more urban and cultural city. The private corporate shuttles offered by Google, Apple, Facebook and many other tech (and biotech) companies that ferry employees from San Francisco down 101 and 280 are creating little hot real estate spots all over the city. Homes near a shuttle stop seem to be commanding a premium over homes in the same or similar nearby neighborhood, but that are more of a walking distance away....

The private bus routes sponsored by tech firms are a draw, said Zephyr agent Danielle Lazier…. Noe Valley is at the top of the list, then Bernal, Mission, Dolores, Cole Valley.”

The hottest properties are near corporate shuttle bus stops…Real-estate agent Amanda Jones calls it the “Shuttle Effect” and said proximity can command as much as a 20% premium. Some real-estate agents said they’re dying for a map of where the buses pick up. “When a listing gets deluged with people—that tells me it’s close to a stop,” said Ms. Jones.

Here's a thought: Why don't we have better transportation from The City to the Peninsula and SiliValley? That way people could live anywhere in SF, AND work for any company they chose, rather than just the behemoths that can run their own shuttles. Electrifying Caltrain would be an excellent start.

[RandySF]

1. BART is being extended to San Jose.

My only regret is that it will make a circular path from San Francisco to Fremont and then on to SJ.

[pinto]

2. I've taken the train San Jose to SF. It's pretty convenient.

http://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekdaytimetable.html

And for me, going to SF from the Central Coast it works well with AMTRAK connection.

[KamaAina]

4. The problem is the connections to and from Caltrain

There are only three stops in SF, one of which is in the Bayview, and the stops in SiliValley are all in town centers, not where the office parks are on the other side of 101.

Muni expresses to Caltrain, and neighborhood shuttles to the office parks, plus faster and more frequent electrified trains (presently, non-peak-hour trains run hourly and take an hour and a half from SF to SJ), are the way to go.

[arcane1]

5. Indeed, I always took BART to Millbrae, then hope on Caltrain there

Much more convenient, and faster. But I'm glad I didn't have to do it every day

[PoliticAverse]

3. A bus that goes right to where you work is a bit different than a general route bus. n/t

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Yes and the OP's point is that the shuttles show demand for these routes along main corridors

between the city and Sili Valley and perhaps public transit would find sufficient demand to do same.
It's hardly a novel idea. There are already public bus routes serving office parks from some BART stations and population centers.

[NuttyFluffers]

7. In a word: Burlingame.

There's a few others, like San Mateo, etc. But currently that one is the proxy nouveau rich working for the older money who doesn't want marred property values by "undesirables" having an easier time to come in.

Class/race politics aren't just for the rest of America!

[CreekDog]

8. There should only be ONE governing transportation agency in the Bay Area

It should run all transportation and transit and focus on moving people and goods effectively and efficiently.

Funding for transit and roads would come from the overall budget of the agency.

The MTC doesn't get there in my opinion. Perhaps what they have in New York City.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. I've said this before, but after moving here from Boston I really miss the MBTA for public transit.

The MBTA is the transit authority for many cities and counties in and around Boston. It's a hydra but at least as a passenger there's one fare structure and one set of transit rules. The balkanized public transit scheme in the SF Bay area makes me want to It's so inefficient from an administrative cost perspective AND from a service delivery perspective.

Beyond that, a single transportation authority would also be beneficial here in the Bay area.