Feb 21, 2008

Wireless on the Bus

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) has launched a free wireless Internet service for its entire fleet of over-the-road commuter buses. UTA operates 60 express route coaches that serve approximately 5,000 passengers commuting daily to and from Davis, Weber, Salt Lake, Tooele and Utah counties. The buses are equipped with Parvus' RiderNet mobile access point technology.

The UTA concluded a successful Wi-Fi pilot in 2007 on four of its Ogden express route buses. After a public bid in November 2007, UTA awarded Parvus with a contract to provide passenger Wi-Fi equipment and installation for 60 additional buses, as well as ongoing remote system monitoring, content filtering and 1-800 user phone support services. Passengers can connect to the Internet using laptop computers, cellular phones, PDAs or other Wi-Fi-enabled devices as they ride to their destinations. Typical download speeds are 450-800 kbps.

As part of its contract, Parvus also provides UTA with wireless functionality for its fleet operations to download route and schedule adherence data from each bus' onboard computer using the same Wi-Fi router and roof antenna as for passenger Wi-Fi. Upon returning to the bus yard, each wireless router equipped with Parvus DepotLink software becomes a wireless download system as it detects and authenticates with UTA's bus garage network. This multi-purpose use of a single Wi-Fi system eliminates the need for multiple antennas or wireless equipment and is a first of its kind in the transit industry.