This article is confusing cause and effect. Bus routes have been opened to cater to people who choose to live in desirable neighborhoods. It's not the buses that make the neighborhood desirable. If all googlers decided they wanted to live in Marin, I would bet that google would send a bus up there in a heartbeat.
I'd imagine it's at least partially a feedback loop. Bus routes are determined by looking at where employees live, and figuring out the optimal locations for stops, which I'd imagine is how the first routes opened up. For new employees/employees moving who are figuring out where to live, though, proximity to a shuttle stop seems like a relevant factor in the decision. If nothing else, not having shuttle service could be a point against living in a given neighborhood. I'd imagine if you took away shuttle service away from one neighborhood (just for the sake of argument), you would probably see a gradual decline in the number of employees living there.
Thing is, it'd be hard to quantify to what extent shuttle service availability influences the decision making process, so I'm not sure how much we can say about the net effect of shuttle routes on demand for living in a particular neighborhood.
Actually, it's showing just that. The were able to demonstrate that the buildings nearest the bus stops were rising faster than the neighbours - and within each neighbourhood. Googlers weren't congregating around the bus stops before they showed up.
Furthermore, it's showing us how much of the price hike we can attribute to the change just to the buses and not other tenant sources.
