End of Bus Wi-Fi

[doglover44]

How good is the bus Wi-Fi ?

[Around the Horn]

On 9/6/2019 at 11:16 PM, aemoreira81 said:

In that livery, that bus actually had Wi-Fi and USB...it just wasn't advertised externally. It more likely was that the MTA hadn't figured out how to apply the new livery to an LFS.

That's exactly what it was... By the time the production buses came in, the SBS version of the livery had already been unveiled on the Q44.

[FamousNYLover]

MTA Wifi on Q44 SBS doesn't seem to work well.

[paulrivera]

the MTA is going for the bus wifi cuts again:

[NewFlyer 230]

1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

the MTA is going for the bus wifi cuts again:

Not surprised. To be honest I forgot the buses had WiFi. I wonder how much they spend for the wifi overall. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

On 1/11/2023 at 6:07 PM, NewFlyer 230 said:

Not surprised. To be honest I forgot the buses had WiFi. I wonder how much they spend for the wifi overall. 

 

On 1/11/2023 at 4:23 PM, paulrivera said:

the MTA is going for the bus wifi cuts again:

Should've been cut already but today is supposedly the last day from what I was told.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lawrence St]

I could understand the local buses but why the express buses?

[B35 via Church]

Lol.... I thought they cut it not too long after this thread was started back in 2019.... The fact that it's lasted another 3.5 years after the fact, speaks for itself,

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I could understand the local buses but why the express buses?

I got the impression that this was one of Cuomo's pet projects. He's no longer in office and the cost cannot be justified to keep it, so it's gone from all buses. Sometimes the  does things based on who is in office. When he was in office, he wanted Wi-Fi on the buses and therefore he got Wi-Fi on all buses. 

Now, given the ridership situation perhaps if people protest enough they'll consider bringing it back, but it's gone for now.

Personally even with the people that are upset about losing it, there's really no time to even protest because I only heard about it earlier in the week. 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Gotham Bus Co.]

On 1/11/2023 at 4:23 PM, paulrivera said:

the MTA is going for the bus wifi cuts again:

 

The few times I tried to use Wi-Fi on a bus, the signal was just strong enough that I knew it was there but not strong enough to actually use.

[aemoreira81]

The signal had gotten really unreliable of late. I’m not sad to see the Wi-Fi go. At least the USB ports will remain. Bee-Line never put Wi-Fi on its Xcelsior fleet, only the USB ports.

[7-express]

The media has finally taken notice of it today with an article on Gothamist and PIX11.

https://gothamist.com/news/mta-cuts-free-wi-fi-from-nyc-buses

Mainly states that only an average of 33k folks were using it and cutting it will save $3.3 million annually.

[aemoreira81]

14 hours ago, 7-express said:

The media has finally taken notice of it today with an article on Gothamist and PIX11.

https://gothamist.com/news/mta-cuts-free-wi-fi-from-nyc-buses

Mainly states that only an average of 33k folks were using it and cutting it will save $3.3 million annually.

But don’t cut the charging ports. Those get used a lot on the buses.

[NewFlyer 230]

22 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

But don’t cut the charging ports. Those get used a lot on the buses.

That’s if they work. It really is a hit or miss finding a XD60 on the Q44 with working usb ports and ports that are not loose and worn out. 

[FLX9304]

They figured since cellular networks are now offering unlimited internet with limited GBs of personal hotspot, , people don’t spend too much time in one place anymore,  home cable companies are offering personal hotspots everywhere nowadays, there’s no need for WIFIs usage on buses to continue. So that means each new bus and buses that do come back to the depot will have the WIFI logo removed. 

[FLX9304]

On 1/14/2023 at 12:47 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I got the impression that this was one of Cuomo's pet projects. He's no longer in office and the cost cannot be justified to keep it, so it's gone from all buses. Sometimes the  does things based on who is in office. When he was in office, he wanted Wi-Fi on the buses and therefore he got Wi-Fi on all buses. 

Now, given the ridership situation perhaps if people protest enough they'll consider bringing it back, but it's gone for now.

Personally even with the people that are upset about losing it, there's really no time to even protest because I only heard about it earlier in the week. 

Actually, it’s not. That is the MTA who oversees it. The Government has nothing to do with it. 

[MysteriousBtrain]

49 minutes ago, FLX9304 said:

Actually, it’s not. That is the MTA who oversees it. The Government has nothing to do with it. 

Gotta remember the MTA is a state funded company, so whatever the state sees fit they'll do their best to push things for their perspective. 

With Cuomo out of office, it becomes easier for the MTA to discontinue wifi without political influence.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, FLX9304 said:

Actually, it’s not. That is the MTA who oversees it. The Government has nothing to do with it. 

And who do you think oversees the ? The governor....

[NYCitizen]

Please bring the NYC bus wifi back. Why remove it when it wasn’t a nuisance to anyone? 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 hours ago, NYCitizen said:

Please bring the NYC bus wifi back. Why remove it when it wasn’t a nuisance to anyone? 

The contract with the supplier ended and that cost has already been added as a savings. You can always leave feedback to the  but it is unlikely to return.

[NewFlyer 230]

On 2/2/2023 at 8:37 AM, NYCitizen said:

Please bring the NYC bus wifi back. Why remove it when it wasn’t a nuisance to anyone? 

The wifi wasn’t used nearly as much as originally intended, plus the actual wifi itself wasn’t very good from what I remember. It was a hit or miss catching a bus with wifi that was working decently because you had buses that when you connected it took forever to load a page and now with many carriers offering unlimited data nowadays it’s not so necessary to have the wifi. 

[aemoreira81]

On 2/3/2023 at 9:07 AM, NewFlyer 230 said:

The wifi wasn’t used nearly as much as originally intended, plus the actual wifi itself wasn’t very good from what I remember. It was a hit or miss catching a bus with wifi that was working decently because you had buses that when you connected it took forever to load a page and now with many carriers offering unlimited data nowadays it’s not so necessary to have the wifi. 

Indeed, it was basically junk on some of the New Flyer Xcelsior tandem buses, especially the 6126-6286 batch.

[QM1to6Ave]

I wish they just kept it on the exp buses, which is not so different from it being offered on greyhound etc for longer trips where you are sitting and may be doing work. But it's not exactly my top concern at the moment

Edited February 12, 2023 by QM1to6Ave

[TheMTAEmprie]

On 1/31/2023 at 11:49 AM, MysteriousBtrain said:

Gotta remember the MTA is a state funded company, so whatever the state sees fit they'll do their best to push things for their perspective. 

With Cuomo out of office, it becomes easier for the MTA to discontinue wifi without political influence.

Now if only they culd bring back the classic blue and white scheme, maybe with the blackback as well.