Boingo Wireless announced today that it has acquired the Wi-Fi networks for the Washington State Ferries from Parsons Transportation Group, and will be providing Wi-Fi access to the daily commuters. Boingo will be adding 11 Washington State Ferries terminals and 15 Ferries to complement its owned and operated airport network.
Washington State Ferries operates the largest ferry fleet in the United States with 28 ferries traversing the Puget Sound and its inland waterways, carrying more than 26 million passengers to 20 different ports of call.
The Ferries Wi-Fi network will be moving to a Boingo-branded start page, where commuters and tourists will be able to purchase Boingo AsYouGo day passes for $7.95, as well as Boingo Unlimited for $21.95 per month. Boingo Unlimited is a monthly service that provides Wi-Fi access throughout the Americas and can be used at any Boingo location.
For current subscribers to the Washington State Ferries Wi-Fi, the monthly subscription will be a decrease in price from $29.95, and will now include the ability to connect to any hotspot in the Boingo Roaming Network. WiFiNetNews has additional background.
Construction is finished for the first commuter rail line in Oregon. The Washington County Commuter Rail will carry passengers between Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville when the line opens in February, 2009. The self-propelled diesel trains, which delayed the opening, will travel 14.7-miles between Beaverton and Wilsonville — with free Wi-Fi.
The Westside Commuter Rail will use a ruggedized mobile router system called the Cira (Cellular Internet Routing Appliance) designed by Eugene, Oregon-based Feeney Wireless. It uses EVDO for the backhaul. Everything is working as promised, reports the company.
The CIRA mobile router has been battle tested in New York City taxicabs. Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT) provides New York City taxicabs with credit and debit card processing, media and advertising content, text messaging, interactive passengers maps, GPS and electronic trip sheets. Today, CMT is the nation’s leading provider of total taxi technology solutions across the United States. and
Emergency medical vehicles can also use the Cira box to communicate to wifi enabled portable emergency equipment, such as EKG, blood pressure, etc., so first responders can transmit real time patient data to the hospital in transit.
Outfitting a bus with wireless capability costs about $1,000 to $2,000, reports USA Today.
Here are some transit agencies in the United States adopting Wi-Fi.
- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority added it to its 45-mile rail line between Worchester and Boston in January. Deputy Chief of Staff Kris Erickson said it’s “probably the most well-received enhancement that we’ve ever done.”
- New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced an agreement last September to wire the city’s 277 subway stations in the next six years. The first should be wired in two years.
- Seattle’s King County says wiring and installation on each bus cost $1,000, according to Mike Berman of the county’s Metro Transit Division.
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Microsoft’s free Connector, a regional bus system for employees, which launched in September, will add new routes and double capacity to 4,600 seats a day.
- The Utah Transit Authority began offering Internet service on 60 of its buses in January.
- San Francisco Transit Authority unveiled the “Connected Bus in February.
- BART’s entire 103-mile rail system is likely to get unwired by WiFi Rail which is also in talks with other large urban commuter rail systems, including those in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
- Cincinnati started its three-month wireless pilot program in March on a single route.
At the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) this week in New York, on-board vehicle communications system were demoed that support both WiFi using 802.11 a/b/g and the 5.9 GHz band which is dedicated to transportation applications.
Traffic and other information can be shared between vehicles and among vehicles and traffic control stations using the Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) technology with sensors and probes collecting data and transmiting real-time information to other drivers/vehicles in the area.
The technologies being demonstrated in two test beds provide detailed, real-time information on how to avoid congestion using alternative routes, where to find a parking space, and traffic signal preemption for transit buses and emergency vehicles.
ITS encompass a broad range of wireless and wired communications-based information and electronics technologies that, when integrated into the transportation system’s infrastructure and in vehicles themselves, are hoped to relieve congestion, improve safety and enhance productivity.
Related Transit Connectivity articles on DailyWireless include; Portland Commuter Rail Readies Wi-Fi, Washington Ferries: Connected at Last!, Mobilizing WiFi on Trains & Cars , TrainFi On the Move,The Connected Bus, Buses Get WiFi, Wireless Parking, WiFi Train a Comin’, Chrysler Rolls Out U-connect, Hotspot for Bedouins, TrainFi On the Move, PePWave Mobility: Connectivity for Vehicles, Belair Radios: On the Move,Autonomous Bus, Kyocera KR2 Mobile Router, TrainFi: One Million Served, and Free TrainFi in UK.
