May 2 (Bloomberg) — The Google Inc. shuttle buses that have become a focal point for social justice protests in San Francisco ought to be outlawed, a community group and a municipal employee union said in a lawsuit against the city.

A growing number of private coaches with blackened windows, upholstered seats and Wi-Fi that shuttle employees of Google, Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. to Silicon Valley have fueled a debate about inequality in a city where software engineers just out of college can expect to make more than $100,000-a-year while their drivers and other residents who make half that amount are paying $2-a-ride on public buses and struggling to keep up with fast-rising rents.

It's not fair that the city collects only $1 from the shuttle buses for each public bus stop they use, Aaron Peskin, former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and a member of the community group suing the city, said in a statement. He called the contribution from Google, Apple, Genentech Inc. and other companies "a pittance."