In 2019, people boarded public transportation 34 million times each day. It gets us where we need to be and provides essential transport to millions of Americans. The internet, too, has become essential, and yet many people, especially the most vulnerable, lack access to the near-limitless resources provided by high-speed internet connectivity. Fortunately, a unique combination of these two services has found a way to bridge this gap.
Enter the Wifi Bus
Instead of connecting us to where we need to be physically, some transit agencies have started connecting people virtually by providing access to high-speed internet. In California, “one in five students lacks high-speed internet access, and nearly half of all low-income households in the state do not have a broadband service at home,” according to Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT).
Without access, these students are unable to complete schoolwork. Similarly, the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs are unable to access critical online job-market services.
This year SacRT, which reported a system-wide ridership decrease of nearly 70%, proposed a unique plan to connect people to essential services: Deploy unused transit buses as mobile hotspots. These roaming hotspots provide free, reliable high-speed internet to underserved communities to allow students and workers access to online resources.
To accomplish this, the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) — which conceptualized the project — and the city of Sacramento joined forces with SacRT. They outfitted 10 WiFi buses with the tech and equipment to give free high-speed connectivity with a range of up to 1,800 feet for 3.5 hours at a time, in two locations a day.