Google launches private ferry service for workers

Google workers commuting from San Francisco to the company's Mountain View campus can now make the trip on an 83-foot, Wi-Fi-equipped catamaran.

The San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday (bit.ly/1e5eDt3 ) that Google has launched a free ferry service from San Francisco's ferry terminal to the Port of Redwood City, where employees can hop a private bus to work.

The chartered ferry can carry up to 150 passengers.

The newspaper says Google is hoping to defuse a controversy over the shuttle buses that several Silicon Valley companies use to carry thousands of employees to work from San Francisco and the East Bay.

San Francisco announced plans earlier this week to start regulating those shuttles, charging a fee for those that use public bus stops and controlling where they load and unload.

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