Text transcript of Metro WiFi buses video
 

Narrator says:
The first WiFi equipped Metro bus rolled through King County today. The wireless internet connection will be available, free to riders, on Metro routes 48 and 197, as part of a five month pilot project to see if WiFi is feasible though out the Metro system.

Ron Sims, King County Executive says:
Basically they’ve wired this bus on two routes, one in city that takes you from the University District to Rainier Beach, and another one that takes you from Kent-Des Moines at Star Lake to Seattle, a commuter route. We will have these buses fully WiFi ’ed, that is the commuter can get on those buses and they can pull out their computers and email their friends and say you won’t believe I’m on a Metro bus. But for people like me who like to read the news, who really look forward to the sports pages, this will be a tremendous asset. Again all we’re doing is saying when you are on public transportation, we have an obligation to insure that we maximize the ability of our customers to remain connected.

Narrator says:
The WiFi  connection is made by a Junxion mobil connection box installed at the front of the bus and outfitted with a cellular air card that will allow passengers to power up their laptop computers or WiFi  enabled devices and access the internet.

Kevin Desmond, Metro Transit General Manager says:
We do think this is a really important new service to put on buses and we want to measure whether or not it’s something that can apply for all of our bus service or work it toward specific markets such as commuters or high end users and so forth and that’s why we’re using both an urban and commuter route.

Ron Sims, King County Executive says:
I think what we’re going to find is, one, it’s very popular and people are initially going to say wow, is this experimental or what, but as we make it more robust and the distributor upgrades and provides faster band width, this is going to become very, very popular.

Narrator says:
The WiFi  equipped buses will be specially marked, and passengers who use the service will be asked to help Metro evaluate the service by filling out an online survey, which is something they can do while they’re riding the bus.
 

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