Sunday, February 01, 2009

Wi-Fi coming to BART! But it'll cost you.

Finally, BART is embracing Wi-Fi access, which I know many commuters have long been hoping for. However, as Rachel Gordon of SF Chronicle reports subscribers will be charged about $30 a month, $9 a day, $6 for two hours and $300 for a year's subscription.

With all the powerful networks and capabilities mobile devices are equipped with these days, I personally no longer see the need to use Wi-Fi on BART. I answer work emails and compose work documents on my Treo, and now the iPhone. Sure, I'll have to wait to pass the Transbay tube and other underground areas for an email to send, but the delay is relatively harmless.

So, would you pay for Wi-Fi on BART? Please vote and let us know!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you, I highly doubt I'll use this. My firm pays for a Blackberry and unlimited service so I just use that. I am okay with waiting through the Transbay Tube and the tunnel between Rockridge and Orinda. If it was $5 a month and $50 a year I might consider it (although still not likely). I've drafted entire letters on "Word to Go" and e-mailed them from my phone with no need to pay anyone.

Anonymous said...

I've used the service in downtown while it's free - less than ideal - coverage constantly drops between stations (contrary to the comment in the SFGate article). I also hate that when completing BARTs survery, you don't have the option to select what monthly fee you'd be willing to pay - they give you 3 or 4 choices, with the lowest being 8 $8 or $9 - too much. For the price of the train ride, this service should be free, especially since the connection constantly drops between stations. Terrible!