Vandals hit vehicles carrying tech staff

UNITED STATES: Six shuttle buses transporting Apple and Google employees were deliberately targeted by vandals who broke the vehicles’ windows with unknown objects on a highway south of San Francisco, authorities said yesterday.

Four Apple charter buses and one Google bus were attacked on Wednesday during the morning and evening commutes along a

25-kilometre stretch of Highway

280, which connects San Francisco to Silicon Valley, said California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel. He said no injuries were reported.

Montiel said another Apple bus had a window smashed last week along the same stretch of highway.

It appeared that the buses were being targeted, but it was not clear if they were being attacked by someone on the side of the road or inside a moving vehicle, Montiel said.

The shuttles are unmarked, but double-decker buses are ubiquitous in the San Francisco Bay Area and have become a symbol of gentrification.

Protesters in San Francisco, where tax incentives have lured Twitter, Yelp, Spotify and other tech firms, have previously targeted shuttle buses ferrying employees to and from Silicon Valley, saying technology workers are driving up rents and increasing the area’s income divide.

During 2013 and 2014 protests, demonstrators hurled rocks at the buses, slashed tyres and taped signs with profanities to them.

‘‘Luckily, there haven’t been any injuries or accidents, but we do take this very seriously because if the driver gets distracted, it could cause a major crash and we could have injuries,’' Montiel said.

Apple was rerouting its shuttles as a safety precaution, he said.