As last week’s WSJ story on Tesla’s parking crunches illustrated, the tech industry in Silicon Valley is grappling with dated thinking on how its employees get to work. By moving offices towards BART and Caltrain corridors, companies could save money on parking and shuttles, as well as employee headaches.
SPUR, a San Francisco planning and research organization, is pushing for other companies to follow in Box’s tracks. In a study released Thursday, it cites Box as a rare example of tech companies that have located near public transportation.
Eighty percent of jobs in the Bay Area are concentrated in suburban fringes with little access to regional rail, and three-quarters of Bay Area workers drive alone to work as a result, the study’s authors note.
The report highlights a seeming irony: Despite pioneering innovations in their products and work spaces, they house their lava lamps and free cafes in suburban corporate campuses with seas of parking lots. It’s a form of office that took shape in the middle of the 20th century. Google, Apple and Facebook’s offices are all more than 3 miles from the nearest rail station.
Read the complete article at San Francisco Chronicle
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