First Transit System To Go Wireless

San Francisco's BART becomes the first transit system in the nation to offer wireless access on all underground trains.

1 minute read

November 21, 2005, 9:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"The goal we have is to completely wire 100 percent of the underground so a passenger (on a wireless device) wouldn't know if they were above ground or underground,'' said Chuck Rae, BART's manager of telecommunications revenue. "It would be seamless."

Rae said BART and the wireless companies know some riders will try to make calls over the din as BART roars and screeches through tunnels. But most of the business, he said, will be from people using wireless devices to read and send e-mail or browse the Internet.

...While other transit agencies have deals with specific cell-phone services, BART is the first in the nation to make a deal allowing underground access to all wireless companies and their customers, Rae said."

Saturday, November 19, 2005 in The San Francisco Chronicle

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