GO Transit is piloting a six-month program that introduces free Wi-Fi onboard 10 of the 407 West and Waterloo/Mississauga GO buses. The pilot began June 3 and may expand based on customer feedback.</p>
According to Vanessa Barrasa, spokesperson and senior advisor for Metrolinx, “Metrolinx continues to explore ways to provide Wi-Fi technology to customers while on the GO system in keeping with our Passenger Charter … and in response to the high number of customer requests for this service.”
In order to provide this service “buses will have a small receiver and router installed on it that is able to pick up wireless cell signals,” Barrasa explained.
To access the Wi-Fi network, GO riders simply connect to the “Free Wi-Fi at GO” network from their wireless devices and accept the terms and conditions.
Initial reaction to the news from GO Bus riders was positive.
“That’s great! Now I can work on buses,” said Jiyoon Kim, a 2B accounting and financial management student. She added that “[it’s] especially [useful] when I realize that something is due that day and I need Internet access in order to finish it.”
GO may need to invest more in advertising this program to university students as Kim said she hadn’t heard that Wi-Fi was being introduced on GO buses.
Whether this program will expand to the rest of the GO Transit fleet really depends on customer satisfaction.
“Metrolinx is taking a holistic approach to determining the success of the pilot project. Customer feedback will help determine whether or not the pilot project will be rolled out to a larger part of GO’s fleet,” Barrasa stated.
