Golden Gate Transit officials pulled the plug on Wi-Fi on 120 buses last week, saying the technology simply didn't work well, partly because of Marin's hilly topography.
"What we had wasn't robust enough to handle the multiple users and the terrain we operate in," said Mary Currie, Golden Gate Transit spokeswoman. The district ended its Wi-Fi program on Friday.
Officials said it is was not worth spending about $6,000 a month on a wireless Internet service that was spotty at best for Golden Gate's 20,000 daily passengers.
But the transit district is not abandoning Wi-Fi completely. It will look at using a stronger 4G network to see if that will work better.
"We hope to be back to the public in about six months," Currie said.
The bus Wi-Fi project cost the district about $245,000 to get up and running in 2011. While the district paid for the hardware, the Wi-Fi service itself was provided free by Los Angles-based FreeFi Networks, which hoped to make up the cost in advertising to the district's clientele.
But about six months ago FreeFi Networks went out of business and the district has had to finance the WiFi service, officials said. The investment is not a total loss; existing equipment will be upgraded and used for the 4G network.
via WiFi News by WiFiNovation | Scoop.it More READ
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