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Miami Trains and Buses to get Free On-Board WiFi … For Free!
(30 Jan 2017, BWCS Staff)All public trains and buses in Miami-Dade County are to offer their passengers free WiFi in the future. The move follows a deal struck between the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners and Massachusetts-based company CIVIQ Smartscapes. Under the terms of the new contract, CIVIQ will install WiFi hotspots in all public transport vehicles, as well as 300 kiosks and at stations and bus-stops.
CIVIQ, of course, is best known for its work in New York City where it has been instrumental in transforming old phone booths into WiFi hotspots. The company now says it will equip over 1,000 public transit vehicles with WiFi. The services will be available across the Miami-Dade region, home to 2.7 million people in 34 different municipalities. CIVIQ will also kit out 51 stations with WiFi access.
Speaking to the Miami Herald, Alice N. Bravo, Miami-Dade director of transportation and public works said, “These new devices and services are much more than a new way to access the internet. Greater connectivity in the transit system means increased efficiency, less downtime, and overall better experiences for our passengers.”
CIVIQ will fund the cost of installing and maintaining the new WiFi systems. While this could reach as high as US$20 million, the company believes it will generate more than this figure in advertising revenue from both the kiosks and the on-board WiFi services. In a commission meeting in December when the project was discussed, critics likened the idea of digital adverts appearing on the kiosk sides to “visual pollution” and said it was a clear violation of the county’s sign ordinance.
For its part, the company said the partnership will set a new level of inter-connectivity between different Miami-Dade public services. County trains and buses will each contain mobile WiFi networks that will allow the county to better track and manage its public transportation system, in addition to providing free Internet access to passengers. CIVIQ is working on a smart city project in Chicago and is beginning to install solar panels on some of its kiosks in New York.
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