A group of anti-gentrification and transit activist filed suit today in San Francisco Superior Court hoping to kill the City-approved "Commuter Shuttle Pilot Program," otherwise known as Muni's Google Bus Compromise, which was approved in January. They cite "devastating impacts on our neighborhoods" and Mayor Lee's "double standard [of] rules for the tech industry and another set of rules for the rest of us."

The parties to the lawsuit, who appear to have some overlap with those who filed a failed appeal with the Board of Supervisors earlier this month to kill the shuttle plan, are the Coalition for Fair, Legal and Environmental Transit, SEIU Local 1021, tenant activist Sara Shortt, and labor leader Alysabeth Alexander.

As they say in a press release:

The suit alleges that the project is in violation of the California Vehicle Code which prohibits any but common carriers (public buses, school buses) to pull into red zones, designated as bus stops. The suit also alleges that City abused its discretion and violated the California Environmental Quality Act by exempting the Shuttle Project from environmental review.

Shortt cites rising rents and evictions as the worst impacts of the shuttles, and Alexander, who is also part of SEIU Local 1021, aims her scorn at Mayor Lee and the coddling of the tech industry by him and the Supes. "In the last 3 years, the City issued over 13,000 citations to vehicles in [SFMTA] red zones, but only 45 were issued to the tech buses,” she points out, and this has been pointed out before.

They also cite the traffic problems and Muni delays caused by the increased presence of the shuttle buses, and dangers to bicyclists. And, they argue, that by creating the 18-month pilot program to charge corporations nominal fees to use Muni stops, the City is breaking the law.

We'll see how this plays out, yes?

Previously: Board Of Supervisors Reject Bid To Hold Up Tech Shuttles