Google is trying to buy itself a little bit of good will while doing a nice deed

Feb 28, 2014 10:07 GMT  ·  By

Today’s PR stunt comes from Google as the Internet giant seeks to appease the citizens of San Francisco by donating $6.8 million (€4.95 million) to fund free rides for kids on the city’s public buses.

The company has been at odds with the San Francisco citizens for months after people started protesting against all the tech companies with headquarters nearby since their rent prices started going up. Busses, including some that were taking Google employees to work, have been attacked or blocked in the streets by protesters.

The company has tried a lot of things to get into the good graces of the citizens, including agreeing to pay for the use of public transport bus stops to pick up employees and introducing an option to bring in Googlers by boat.

This time, however, the company has donated a lot of money to the Free Muni for Low Income Youth program. The $6.8 million should cover the program’s funds for two years.

With its help, students that come from homes with low or moderate income can use the San Francisco public buses for free. Since it was introduced last year, some 31,000 students have been given a helping hand.

“With this unprecedented gift from Google, we can keep this successful pilot program running for at least two more years at no cost to taxpayers or Muni riders and free up critical funds for other vital Muni maintenance and services,” said Ed Lee, San Francisco mayor.

“Google is demonstrating with real action and real resources that they are a true partner in addressing our city’s affordability crisis for lower and middle-income families,” he added.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the company’s move will actually earn it any type of goodwill from the angry citizens. After all, Google isn’t the only company with headquarters nearby San Francisco and numerous tech companies have set base there for many years.

The San Francisco Municipality seemed quite pleased with Google too, calling this a very positive step forward. Supervisor Campos said that he was looking forward to working with the tech industry in the future on many other important issues, including housing, jobs, and tenant protections.

Today’s announcement seems to a bit of a public relations effort from Google, but that doesn’t mean it comes from anything else than good intentions. After all, it’s a win-win situation, where the company gets cut some slack by the San Francisco citizens and the town gets some much needed funds to help out those who need it.