Unlimited and free chef-prepared food, on-site car washes and haircuts, a climbing wall, two lap-pools and a volleyball court--these are the perks of working at Google. Now employees can add the most important benefit of all to the list: a free shuttle to and from work, complete with leather seats, Internet access and bike racks.
The shuttles make 132 trips every day, traveling from Google's headquarters in Mountain View to some 40 pick-up and drop-off locations as far away as Concord or Santa Cruz. Not only are the shuttle terribly convenient--they're also environmentally friendly. All of the buses run on biodiesel.
Aside from being a nice perk, the shuttle service gives Google that much more edge in the competitive world of Silicon Valley job recruiting. Some employees have admitted to turning down jobs at other major high-tech firms in favor of Google's transportation benefits.
Most interesting is the affect these shuttles are potentially having on the real estate market. Employees are actually finding housing in the Bay Area based on shuttle stop locations; entire Google communities seem to be springing up around these pick-up and drop-off points.
To read the article in its entirety, please go to Google's Buses Help Its Workers Beat the Rush.
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