Fleets of Corporate Buses that dot clogged highways have become the concrete symbol of the dramatic expansion in the Bay Area sending rents and homes prices skyrocketing. The gentrification of neighborhoods have dramatically changed Silicon Valley real estate and rents are up as much as 43 percent within a few blocks of company transit to stops in San Francisco, according to one measure.

Mountain View Google’s Fleet of Commute Buses

As Silicon Valley once spanned the short stretch from Palo Alto to  San Jose, the boundaries have expanded marketing prime real estate  as – “Walk to your private bus stop.”

“Transportation is the new status symbol” – the hulking luxury buses complete with Wi-Fi and electricity outlets “signal that you have a job and that you have one with a firm that is forward-thinking and enlightened.” “You live where you want to live, we’ll get you to work,” stated Kevin Mathy, Google’s transportation manager, describing the Internet search giant philosophy. That simple goal has become an economic force.

CLICK HERE for an excellent article by Michelle Quinn, San Jose Mercury News.