Wi-Fi Coming to Metro North and L.I.R.R.?

M.T.A.

New York City commuters take note: It looks like Metro North and the Long Island Rail Road are becoming broadband-friendly.

MuniWireless reports that the M.T.A. and L.I.R.R. have issued a Request for Expressions of Interest for wireless broadband deployment in trains and stations, a move, the Web site notes, that is consistent with an increase in public transport companies providing Wi-Fi to passengers to entice them away from car commuting. (Sounds like Mayor Bloomberg would love that.)

They have the full document embedded in PdF form here, but scroll down for an excerpt.

The R.F.E.I. is dated July 1, although M.T.A. officials mentioned it back in June after Sen. Chuck Schumer criticized L.I.R.R. for lagging on providing Wi-Fi for riders.

Dana Spiegel of NYCWireless weighs in with some context:

The RFEI is just a preliminary step in what many New Yorkers (and NJ and CT residents) think is a sorely missing feature of the MTA’s rail lines, given how many other railroads both in the US and in the rest of the world offer Wi-Fi.

There’s no mention of “Free Wi-Fi”, but that’s to be expected as this type of service is both expensive to install and requires a lot of maintenance, both costs that the MTA is likely unwilling to bear. This means that if Wi-Fi is to become available on the LIRR and Metro-North Railroads, its going to be as a for-pay service to commuters and riders. The big question the MTA is looking to answers is: What’s the best infrastructure technology to use to provide Wi-Fi internet aboard trains.

And here's an excerpt from the R.F.E.I.:

“The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”), together with the Long Island Rail Road (“LIRR”) and Metro-North Commuter Railroad (“Metro-North”, and together with LIRR, the “Railroads”), are considering the deployment of wireless broadband services on the Railroads’ trains and in the Railroads’ stations. This RFEI is being issued to solicit expressions of interest from providers of such services.”

“LIRR operates between New York City and Long Island and within Long Island. Metro-North operates between New York City and the northern suburban counties of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess; from the City through the southern portion of the State of Connecticut; through an arrangement with New Jersey Transit, the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley commuter rail services to Orange and Rockland Counties; and within such counties and the State of Connecticut. LIRR and Metro-North are, respectively, the largest and second largest commuter railroad services in the nation and operate every day of the year, although frequency of service varies by route, day of the week and time of
day.”

. . . .

“The RFEI will provide MTA and the Railroads the opportunity to review different technologies and solutions and to evaluate different business cases. As an option, one or both of the Railroads may decide to permit a technical trial of one or more technical solutions at no cost to the Railroads. After the Railroads review the responses to the RFEI (and the results of technical trials, if any), a decision will be made whether to proceed with a wide scale on-train and/or station wireless broadband implementation pursuant to a subsequent request for proposals (“RFP”).”