Google versus Gas Prices
Gas prices are absolutely ridiculous right now in Silicon Valley (over $3.00 per gallon for unleaded). Really hurtin. Why are we getting shafted?? From Gasbuddy:
You know who’s not hurting from these gas prices? Googlers. Yep, Google employees. Why? Because they have Google buses to pick them up every morning and bring them to work (the buses have wireless internet). Talk about awesome perks in desperate times!
“The company now ferries about 1,200 employees to and from Google daily — nearly one-fourth of its local work force — aboard 32 shuttle buses equipped with comfortable leather seats and wireless Internet access. Bicycles are allowed on exterior racks, and dogs on forward seats, or on their owners’ laps if the buses run full.”
This is as good a reason as any to join the Google machine, yes?
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March 11th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
[…] Original post by Tony Chung […]
March 12th, 2007 at 1:06 am
As a constant commuter, I’m always frustrated by the fluctuation of gas prices…Some idiot said ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’ so i did, but surprise surprise, no gas discounts…’if you can’t beat em, join google’ as some wise man said :)
March 12th, 2007 at 3:08 am
Gotta love companies that go green!
JT
March 12th, 2007 at 6:13 am
Yeah, one thing about those buses is that they run on biodiesel, so I’ve heard. To the extent that they’re not running on unleaded, they’re not paying for cost increases.
What would be good for employees that don’t work at Google is to (1) buy a hybrid, (2) hack it and add plug in capabilities, (3) put solar panels or a residential wind turbine at the house, and (4) plug in the hybrid at night or take from your renewable solar/wind. That way, you buy less gas and less coal, so you’re insulated in price from both the gas man and the coal man.
I haven’t been paying attention to the market, but one must wonder what the increases are all about. I haven’t really heard any new news with respect to uncertainty in the middle east or lowering of inventory levels. Are prices going up purely on the advent of summer travel, etc.?
March 12th, 2007 at 6:15 am
Yep yep!
Also though, if you live outside of the Shuttle area which some do, you can get a large cash bonus towards a fuel-efficent vehicle. The parking garage is packed with Prius’s!
:-)
Christie
March 12th, 2007 at 8:05 am
’if you can’t beat em, join google’ *chuckle* :)
Preston I’m also pretty curious why gas prices are at a high. At least it’s not too bad out there in Texas.
Yea Christie I’ve heard from a buddy at Google that they pay for half the price of your vehicle if you purchase a hybrid. Too cool.
March 12th, 2007 at 10:25 am
I have always noticed a correlation between weather and gas prices. The hotter it is, the higher it gets, but there has to be more to it, no?…Maybe, those gas companies are pulling our chains to see how high they can make it, before we start seriously looking into other means of transportation(i.e. bart and buses)…
The last time gas was this high, I strongly considered using VTA services to commute to school. I weighed out the pros and cons and concluded that, I would only do it if gas approaches $4.50. I hope whoever is in charge of setting gas prices, isn’t reading this…
March 12th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Wow, that is nice. Working for google is like being in a cult.
March 13th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Indo, you’re pretty close to the mark. California prices are usually 20 cents higher than the rest of the nation, but this gulf has widened in recent weeks due to two factors:
1.) Switch to summer fuel mixes.
2.) Lack of refineing capacity.
The reason why california is experiencing a gas price hike is because of the switch from winter to summer refining mixes in california refineries. California switches over before the rest of the states and it takes a while for the refineries to get up to peak output after the switch over their production 100 percent.