Next stop: Buses that let riders log on

By Steve Kanigher

Thursday, July 5, 2007 | 7:28 a.m.

By this time next year Las Vegas commuters on certain express buses essentially will be able to reach their offices or classrooms before arriving at their destinations by using their laptop computers to make free high-speed wireless connections to the Internet and e-mail.

As mass transit operators examine ways to lure people out of their vehicles to relieve traffic congestion, they are looking to wireless technology that enables riders to commute and work at the same time as one possible strategy.

Coffee shops and facilities such as McCarran International Airport long have been "wired" so that individuals can use their laptops without needing to find the nearest Internet connection.

But the concept of mobile Internet connections for the public, first tried on transit systems in Europe in 2003, has had a much slower reception in the United States.

Although wireless services for bus travelers are now offered in cities that include Salt Lake City, Seattle, Albuquerque, and Oakland and Riverside, Calif., in most cases they are available only on limited routes on a trial basis.

As part of the Regional Transportation Commission's plan to take advantage of the soon-to-be-widened U.S. 95 corridor from the Spaghetti Bowl to Craig Road, double-deckers will have access to multiple-passenger lanes. The buses, as an added convenience, will give riders free access to the World Wide Web.

"Internet access is an amenity we can use to entice people to try transit," RTC spokeswoman Tracy Bower said.

The system is to be far more advanced than those used in other cities, so much so that the Internet access offered the public is not the major reason for going wireless.

The primary purposes of the wireless connections, officials say, are twofold: to permit transit technicians to use Internet connections to give them more flexibility to manipulate traffic signals to speed bus traffic, and to allow bus drivers to more rapidly transmit onboard video of problem passengers to transit and law enforcement authorities.

RTC officials acknowledge that there are several unknowns about the wireless system they plan to have in place, most notably the cost. They plan to advertise requests for bids in the fall and award a contract by year's end.

Their preference is for a fiber-optic system involving signals sent from access points - radios attached to places such as light poles. The signals would be sent to shoebox-size wireless routers aboard the buses, from which the laptops would pick up the signals.

"The more we research the technologies, the lower the cost seems to be," said Rick Moore, acting director of RTC's information technology department. "We're trying to make this as cost effective as possible and still make it cutting edge. The RTC wants to be a world leader in technology."

Even the park-and-ride facilities the RTC plans to build throughout the valley will be equipped with wireless technology to allow commuters to power up their laptops while waiting for a bus. Once they board they can continue to use the Internet, without service interruption.

Eventually, the plan is to extend the wireless service to express bus routes such as the existing Metropolitan Area Express line from downtown to Nellis Air Force Base, and planned routes along Boulder Highway, Sahara Avenue and North Fifth Street.

In most other cities that use wireless technology, buses are equipped with receivers that beam signals to cellular telephone towers that, in turn, communicate with antennas atop the buses. Although the Internet connection can approach the high speeds of cable or DSL services, with multiple users the service can be as slow as dial-up.

Transit officials in cities that offer Internet access say the service is more practical for routes of at least 20 minutes. For shorter rides, it is not worthwhile for commuters to power up their laptops.

As for the "computer commuters," they have been mostly white - collar workers and students. Whether the service will boost ridership long term is a question most of the transit agencies are still evaluating.

George Yocum, president of the nonprofit Las Vegas PC Users Group, said the RTC proposal would be popular with laptop users "as long as it's free and it's at least a 20-minute ride."

"If they expand the service to enough corridors, it could be a positive thing," he said. "But I think the only people who would really need to use the Internet service on the bus are those who don't have Internet access at home or someone like a stockbroker who needs to keep up with the news."

Riverside Transit Agency marketing director Scott Richardson said the wireless technology is boosting bus ridership in his Southern California community. On one express route that the agency thought was underused the ridership has increased by 12 percent over the past year.

"A good portion of the people who take that route said that having the Internet access had an influence on their decision to ride the bus," Richardson said.

To date, transit agencies have absorbed the cost of the equipment and cellular tower connections to provide the service free .

Alameda-Contra Costa Transit, which serves Oakland and other East Bay cities in Northern California, is expanding its Internet service from a handful of buses to 78, more than 10 percent of its 700-bus fleet, thanks to a $340,000 grant from a county agency .

"The aim is to do all we can to lure people out of cars and into mass transit," AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said. "We did a survey of our ridership and the response to Internet access was very enthusiastic. We certainly believe it will increase ridership."

The Utah Transit Authority launched its trial in September by including wireless services on four buses that make the 50-minute run between Salt Lake City and Ogden. As in Riverside and Oakland, the early response has been rousing, despite occasional system glitches and unscheduled down time.

"I've heard people say they want this service on their buses, too," said Kyle Brimley, the transit authority's technology deployment manager. "We've put together a proposal to put this technology on all of our express routes."

The cost of offering wireless technology varies with the equipment used and the companies that own the cellular towers.

Utah Transit's equipment cost, for example, is $5,000 per bus, plus $159 monthly per bus for access to cellular phone towers, which includes filtering that prevents riders from accessing gambling or pornography Web sites. But in Riverside, the equipment cost is only $1,760 per bus plus $60 a month per bus for tower access.

The King County Department of Transportation, with a service area that includes Seattle, has been testing the wireless service since September 2005 on buses that run short and long routes.

The jury is out on whether the agency will make a long-term commitment to the service, but transportation department spokeswoman Rochelle Ogershok said there is no doubt that offering Internet access to riders "is more of a convenience factor and an amenity that makes riding the bus more attractive."