What Happened?
A city in Portugal recently added Wi-Fi connectivity to some of its buses and taxis. The internet initiative provides a service to residents as well as enables city officials to collect key data to support decision making.
Goal
Porto, Portugal, now has more than 600 buses and taxis retrofitted with technology to act as Wi-Fi hot spots. By providing free internet connections via public transit vehicles, the city will serve 70,000 passengers a month interested in going online while navigating Porto. When a rider requests access to the internet on a bus or taxi, a router relays the request to one of the many Wi-Fi hubs installed throughout the city or through vehicle-to-vehicle communication, GovTech reported.
The use of Wi-Fi connectivity over cellular connection can generate significant savings. Every gigabyte sent through a cellular connection will cost about $15, compared to just $0.85 through fixed Wi-Fi infrastructure, GovTech reported.
While the free Wi-Fi connectivity offers an obvious benefit to public transit passengers of reducing data usage, the hot spots will also act as data collectors. The Wi-Fi routers added to the buses and taxis contain special sensors that gather a plethora of city information such as locations of potholes or garbage accumulation.
When city officials have access to this data in real-time, they can make more informed decisions on how best to prioritize repairs and maintenance projects for reduced costs and optimal efficiency, Gizmodo reported.
Leveraging Transit
According to researchers in Portugal, adding Wi-Fi hot spots to transportation infrastructure is an obvious step toward creating a more connected city. The Wi-Fi hubs can be spread out strategically along common public transit routes or busy roadways where passenger volume high. This will ensure seamless Wi-Fi accessibility for a large number of users at any given time, GovTech reported.
And the number of riders on public transit lines will likely continue to grow. Recent data from the American Public Transportation Association reported more than 2.7 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the third quarter of 2014, up 1.8 percent (or 48 million trips) year-over-year.
In addition, public transit ridership in the U.S. has increased in 12 of the last 15 quarters. The data showed public transportation ridership increases occurred in cities with marked economic growth and development.
The American Public Transportation Association attributes the high ridership numbers to several factors:
- Federal investment in public transportation leading to increased access and economic development
- Higher quality public transit – such as vehicles with Wi-Fi connectivity, smartphone applications and real-time data at stations
- Jobs growth in cities nationwide
Even as gas prices drop, many cities continue to see public transit ridership increase due to greater accessibility and convenience. Adding Wi-Fi connectivity will further boost the value of public transportation options by enabling passengers to be more productive while riding.
Internet of Things
Gov1 has followed a growing number of cities investing in Wi-Fi connectivity initiatives to spur economic development.