Wi-Fi on buses wave of the future or of the past?

IOWA CITY — Free Wi-Fi on public transit is becoming a more prevalent amenity nationwide. But some agencies are rethinking whether it is necessary, especially given the potential growing cost to city transit programs.

The theory is riders can click away on their laptop or tablet — browsing the web, sending email or getting some work done — during their bus trip.

'It's convenient, and I don't have to use my own data,' University of Iowa student Ashley Williams said of riding the popular Pentacrest route of the school's Cambus service.

She switches from her own data plan to the wireless signal on her phone to check Facebook or her emails while she waits for her stop.

In 2010, UI, Iowa City and Coralville included Wi-Fi as an add-on when they jointly launched a bus tracking platform called Bongo, through which riders can check bus schedules and real-time location from a smartphone's app or the computer's.

But as Cedar Rapids and other cities are considering adding the service, the UI is reassessing its value after five years.

Users offer mixed reports about the service.

Wendy Ren, a UI student from Fuzhou, China, said she logs in to the Wi-Fi regularly. She finds it convenient but slow.

Zhixiang Zhang, of Shanghai, has a similar complaint. He likes to read financial news while on the go, but the bus Wi-Fi is more of a hurdle than an asset for him.

'I don't use it,' he said. 'It's very slow.'

Brittany Faley, of Johnston, also does not use the service, but her reason is due to privacy concerns: 'I don't want people to be able to access my information.'

Increasing ridership

Cedar Rapids transit officials are exploring Wi-Fi as they work toward launching their own GPS-backed bus-tracking suite, complete with a smartphone app.

Brad DeBrower, Cedar Rapids transit manager, said the hope is to launch it this summer.

'It is something we are seriously considering,' DeBrower said of free Wi-Fi as an add-on service. 'I am not sure what the demand is going to be, but we see it as a feature more riders would like the benefit of having. We see it as a natural extension.'

The American Public Transportation Association found in 2013 that 4 percent of buses had Wi-Fi service, up from .5 percent in 2008, and the list of cities getting or expanding Wi-Fi on buses has been growing.

An industry study by an Internet solutions company, Singlepoint, found that 80 percent of millennials — designated for the study as ages 18 to 34 — would favor a 50-minute bus ride with Wi-Fi over driving 25 minutes, and 54 percent of millennials expect Wi-Fi or 3G/4G wherever they go.

Research from Northwestern University and DePaul University found Wi-Fi likely will help increase ridership on public transit.

Public transit ridership is up in the Iowa City area — but it is also up in Cedar Rapids, which doesn't yet have Wi-Fi, and overall around Iowa.

But despite some of the evidence suggesting Wi-Fi on buses is the fixture of the future, communities in the Iowa City area are re-evaluating as their five-year contract comes up for renewal this year.

Brian McClatchey, UI Cambus manager, said with the influx of personal smartphones, many people just use their own data to access the web.

Meanwhile, a small portion of riders consume large volumes of data for streaming things such as music or videos, causing the overall data consumption to be much higher than anticipated.

McClatchey said they discovered the data usage was exceeding expectations early on, and the vendor, Nextbus, agreed to up the allowance at no additional cost.

But when terms are renewed at some point this year, the rate likely will jump considerably, he said. Right now, the rate is $37.50 per bus per month for 78 buses on the system, he said.

'In five years the proliferation of smartphones has been dramatic, so I think the value in it has been diminished over time,' McClatchey said. 'It is something we'd like to maintain, but is it worth it?'