Do most other places actually have WiFi along their entire urban rail network rather than just in their stations? London, New York, Paris and Toronto all seem to offer it just at stations. Aside for cities in Asia, I think it would be half at best.
Amsterdam has free wifi on all trams and buses along with at the stations.
Anyone see those new ATM's they are installing? Over under on how long someone gets robbed/mugged at the crackmacs one?
I think it's most likely they go missing from the platforms or are vandalized. I know there are security cameras around, but that probably won't stop someone.
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It also makes sense to provide wifi at the stations so a person can use their device to check schedules and things like that. Basically it is cheaper to provide wifi than it is to have interactive terminals.
Providing wifi on buses and trains is something else all together; both in cost as well as logistics. (Do you have mobile hotpots using LTE data, or do you have to rely on stationary devices that have smooth hand-off as the vehicle moves.) And all of that just to be an internet provider, as opposed to offering a service so your customers can use your product better.
Given the cost to me as a tax payer and/or a transit user, I'll just buy my own data plan.
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I think even providing Wifi at the stations is a nice enough gesture....to expect them to provide it along the whole route seems a little greedy. It's not CT's job to provide you with entertainment on your ride....feel free to use your own data plan for that.
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I should be more specific in my complaint - the networks simply don't work for me. I have created a guest account for the draw network, and it tends to connect as evidenced by the wifi symbol on my phone, but I get no internet connection
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Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
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Plus it looks like the provider is ad based, and I would imagine with cellular coverage coming next year, some of the infrastructure costs may have been shared with the cellular providers.
$5 a month to have constant wifi on a train or bus in Calgary would be a good revenue generator, for something that isn't that expensive to implement.
As electronic fare payments systems have shown, providing these services is not like setting up off-the-shelf products for you house. Furthermore, these services provide very little bang for Calgary Transit's limited budget.
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I wonder if Calgary Transit has approached a company like Shaw to partner up and provide free WiFi to transit customers. Shaw could probably implement a system wide solution fairly easily as they have done with Shaw Go Wifi. Offering Shaw some free ad space at stations, on trains and on buses might be enough for them to sign on as a partner.
I was also in New York this past May and the underground subway cars did not have wifi just the station platforms. I never took the elevated trains though if that's what you're referring to.
