Virginia Railway Express is considering offering more free wireless Internet to its riders, ditching a plan to put minimal service in just two cars for a more robust system that could handle streaming video from any seat. But such a system would come at a cost. The initial setup would cost about $1 million compared with about $50,000 for the minimalist version, said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber, then some $100,000 or more to operate each year.
| Record-breaking ridership |
| Virginia Railway Express broke its ridership record on Wednesday, providing 20,133 passenger trips. It also was the first time the agency hit the 20,000 ridership mark, double the amount it had in 2000. The spike reflects an increase in popularity for the commuter train service. Overall ridership has been 7.5 percent higher than a year ago, VRE said. — Kytja Weir |
“Honestly it’s a bold step,” Roeber said. “And it’s the right step to do because our ridership already has expectations of what they want from VRE and they expect from VRE.”
The commuter train service, which shuttles workers from as far as Manassas and Fredericksburg, has been looking at ways of providing its riders with wireless Internet for several months. Commuters have been asking for it, especially as consolation when delays and breakdowns make them late to work.
The agency had been planning to introduce a system that would add access to the two rear cars of each train for about $50,000. At the time, Roeber told The Washington Examiner he didn’t think riders would crowd into the Wi-Fi cars immediately.
“A lot of people get on the train and don’t do anything. They’re relaxing, decompressing,” he said then. “I don’t foresee it as being an issue.”
Now, he said, that plan is off the table. “The more we looked at it, we knew the demand is going to be significant,” he said.
Many riders tote smart phones, tablets and laptops, he noted. Furthermore, having Internet in just a few cars would give riders who travel the farthest an advantage over riders who live closer to the city. Those boarding in Fredericksburg could take the seats in the cars with wireless, start up their laptops and hog all the bandwidth before riders in subsequent stations could board.
The agency now plans to ask its operations board on Friday to consider the new plan, which would extend access throughout the train and have enough room for the new 4G network.
They also are considering a middle-of-the-road option that would cost an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 to set up. But Roeber said it would not cover the entire train.
Riders’ fares covered about 30 percent of the agency’s $51 million operating cost in the most recent fiscal year, with the rest coming from local, state and federal subsidies and grants.
