FrankBeamer_ t1_j6env67 wrote on January 29, 2023 at 8:36 PM

Reply to comment by Sartela1980 in MTA cuts free Wi-Fi from NYC buses by flightwaves

Less than 2% of riders use the service. It makes zero sense to keep spending millions on a service nobody really uses.

And there are already plenty of free Wi-Fi spots in the city

whateverisok t1_j6exi54 wrote on January 29, 2023 at 9:33 PM

The 2% that use it most likely really, really need to use it, whether for long bus rides, international arrivals who don't have a SIM card yet, low-income people who can just about afford to have a phone but spend hours on the bus daily, etc.

Those free WiFi spots are slow and require going through the whole sign in progress again.

MaelStrom456 t1_j6fvbp1 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 1:08 AM

I'm just going to point out that I DID use the WiFi on the buses, and you'd be lucky if you got anything to load within 5 minutes. I would spend 12+ hours on the bus a week for 4 years and I could not give you one good experience. The sheer stress of trying to submit a form for something knowing full well that the wifi probably wouldn't pull through for you is so real. It was a useless service that benefited those who maybe used it for very low data usage tasks.

ljthefa t1_j6g94nv wrote on January 30, 2023 at 2:43 AM

That's 2% of the total population of riders and a skewed statistic. Not every bus has wifi.