Comments on: Schumer calls for wireless access on commuter rail

By: Amtrak, now with some wireless internet :: Second Ave. Sagas

Amtrak, now with some wireless internet :: Second Ave. Sagas — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:14:39 +0000

[...] to wire its underground subway system for basic cell service, and Sen. Chuck Schumer has called for wireless access on the MTA’s commuter rails. It truly is a matter of economics and productivity because people with Internet don’t suffer [...]

By: MTA moving forward with wireless access plans :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:37:37 +0000

[...] Last month, the Senior Senator from the Great State of New York issued a call for the MTA to outfit their commuter rail trains with wireless Internet. I used his call as a launching point for a brief discussion on how Amtrak, Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road should all be equipped for wireless. [...]

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:02:31 +0000

Speed is a red herring. The TGV, which runs at 200 mph, has been recently retrofitted with free wi-fi – and that’s in France, which isn’t famous for its technology the way Japan or Korea is.

By: herenthere

herenthere — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:59:34 +0000

I think we should get Transit Wireless to start wiring subway tunnels with basic cell service first, since I’m pretty sure that there are more riders taking the subway that could be more productive than on the LIRR+MNR combined. Besides, the commuter rails empty out into the subway system anyways.

By: Walter Sobchak

Walter Sobchak — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:05:07 +0000

Wait, this only costs about $1,000 a car?

To offer wifi on the entire new set of 210 New Haven Line cars would only cost $210,000?!?

Imagine how much work a person could do from New Haven to Stamford (45 minutes), Stamford to New York (about 40 minutes on an express), or New Haven to New York (up to 2 hours). Hell, I’d even pay a nominal amount to have wifi on a boring train ride home.

We can afford specially designed signs on the Merritt Parkway but can’t afford something that can drastically improve productivity (especially during delays in service/”police activity on the tracks”)? There’s no reason we shouldn’t have this by Christmas.

By: Whatever

Whatever — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:17:44 +0000

Completely irrelevant where the money is coming from. In these economic times, money needs to be spent on projects that benefit many & this does not qualify. LIRR riders have options of free wifi from Optimum Online for starters.

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:13:27 +0000

I'd say a project is a waste when the costs of it far outweigh its benefits. Per the Newsday article, this will cost $1000 per car of federal - not MTA - money and would improve productivity by a significantly higher margin than that. Not a waste.

By: Whatever

Whatever — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:03:31 +0000

This project is a waste as there are more important worries than providing free internet service to suburban rail commuters.

By: The Daily Dig - I Hate ‘I [Heart] Rail’ Edition » INFRASTRUCTURIST

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:03:14 +0000

[...] Road don’t have access to WiFi on the train. It would cost about $1000 per car to install. (Second Ave Sagas, [...]

By: Josh K

Josh K — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:11:49 +0000

Amtrak, MNRR and LIRR all run at about the same speeds. Only the Acela goes faster, but it doesn’t really do so in Metro-North territory, largely because of the amount of MNRR traffic.

I agree with Pete that what we really need is just guaranteed 3G service along the rail corridors. That way it is the cell phone companies problem to maintain and update the network. Wireless communications standards change too frequently for a lumbering bureaucracy like the MTA to keep up. Besides, they’re not a communications organization, they’re a transit organization. What the MTA should do is lease tower space along it’s right of way too the major wireless carriers, including the MNRR Park Ave. Tunnel.

As a state organization, the MTA doesn’t have to conform to local zoning codes, so it can just lease tower locations with minimal fuss. This has been a major issue with municipalities along the Hudson who are loathe to allow ANY cell towers anywhere in their vistas.

The village of Croton-on-Hudson (home of MNRR’s massive Harmon Yards and Shops complex) has been incredibly reluctant to allow any cell towers within their jurisdiction. It’s so bad that the only cell service available near the trains station (which also serves Amtrak) is from a tower ACROSS the Hudson River (which is at the Hudson’s widest point). All the carriers need to do is just setup their tower on MNRR property and they’d be set. Plus it would have the added benefit of providing improved cell coverage on the river itself, which is increasingly more important for boaters’ distress calls.