Miami Today reports that Metrorail will install “free” wireless internet service at all stations in 2010 and then eventually on all trains by 2011. The Wi-Fi hotspots will cost about $2 million. Susanna Guzman-Arean, who handles Miami Dade Transit’s strategic planning and performance management, makes an interesting argument for the wireless service:
It’s a lot better to sit on the train and be productive than be sitting in traffic, we think that it would motivate people to get out of their cars.”
Unfortunately, Wi-Fi alone will not motivate people to get out of their cars. If Metrorail is serious about adding riders, they should begin by lowering their prices. A one way ticket costs $2; the same price as the subway in NYC. According to U.S. Census Bureau, 2003 American Community Survey, the median annual household income in Miami is $23,774, compared to $39,937 in NYC. Not only is the Metrorail considerably more expensive relative to wages, but we get a lot less “bang for our buck”. The level of service which Metrorail provides is inferior. For $2 in NYC you are provided access to a more extensive transportation system. Lowering prices is the first step.
Improving the quality of the existing service is the second step to increase ridership. I mentioned to a coworker who commutes daily on the Metrorail that Wi-Fi would be available on all trains. Julio was not impressed. He told me he would rather see the air conditioning work and the trash on the trains picked-up. Valid point. This should be a priority, not Wi-Fi. This is not to say that commuters won’t use this service. Some will, but in the new era of smart phones, fewer people will find the need to use their laptops.
Ridership will increase if two conditions are present:
1) If there is a financial incentive (i.e. cheaper then commuting by car)
2) If the quality of service is reliable and improved (i.e. commuting
time should be comparable if not faster then driving a car and trains should be on time, clean and the air conditioning should work)
Even with the “free” wireless internet service, Metrorail commuters are paying too much for the service which is provided to them. The $2million would be better allocated to the daily maintenance of the trains. There are certain factors that encourage ridership; Wi-Fi alone is not one of them.
14 Responses to Wi-Fi coming to a Metrorail station near you
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Getting Wifi is a big step. Good for us.
I have to disagree with you on the price of a ticket though. The financial incentive to use the metro rail exists even when you increase the price of the ticket to $5-6. Add up the monthly cost of car ownership (based on my own experience):
$150 (monthly payment)
$150 (monthly insurance)
$120 (gas – $30/week at $2.50/gallon)
$100 (Misc expenses – tolls, parking, maintenance)
$520 – A conservative estimate that doesn’t take into account other major maintenance expenses, and assumes a low cost of fuel.
That makes the $100 a month unlimited pass a bargain.
The fact is that until we pay for transit service in the same way we pay for car service it will never happen. We cannot compare our system to NY’s because they have had 100 years to build their system – not to mention they also undercharge for their service. What most people don’t understand about transit is that the cost of maintenance and operations are passed on to the government to assume, whereas for cars those costs are assumed by the consumer. This is why municipal governments – especially our own – are so hesistant to build new lines. Once the infrastructure is built/ buses bought they are responsible for long term maintenance and operations, which are far less than that of road building.
Your second condition is the actual problem, because if you provide safe, convenient, and reliable service then people will be willing to pay for it. I for one would be willing to pay up to $200 a month to be able to get around, but I need to know that I can abandon my car. Once we charge for transit what it is worth to people, then we can subsidize the small amount of riders (10%?) that truly cannot afford it.
I’ve never felt unsafe on the Metro, but I don’t think I’m comfortable enough to whip out my laptop and work on it. North of Civic Center Station, the Metro is pretty sketchy.
I don’t even feel comfortable using my iphone north of government center.
I would love to use the Metrorail for commuting, but all the jobs I’ve had are no where near any of the stations. Now that I am laid off, I’ve been searching near the Metrorail for work so I could use it. The issue is that no one is hiring IT and responding. I sure wish we had a better network. I would love to ride the train everywhere.
Subway/Bus service in New York City has increased to $2.25/ride, $89/30-day; Miami-Dade is $2/ride, $100/month. It is slightly bewildering that NYC has a more commuter/resident friendly rate structure than Miami while NYC transit is more competitively situated with car transit than Miami (e.g., anyone who has tried to drive in NYC knows about the cost of/difficulty with parking, the difficulty/time/expense of dealing with traffic, the social acceptance of mass-transit in NYC, and the competitive rate structure). Perhaps one of the first things Miami should do is lower the cost of monthly Metropasses to incentivize residents to take mass-transit rather than driving.
- Jason
The $100 unlimited monthly pass is a bargain when compared to the cost of owning a car. Unfortunately, I cannot abandon my car due to the fact that our public transportation system is not extensive enough. I have reluctantly come to accept the monthly fixed costs (car loan, insurance) of automobile ownership. I would consider replacing car trips with Metrorail trips in order to reduce my variable costs (gas and maintenance) associated with automobile ownership. With today’s relatively low gas prices and the $2 Metrorail fare, the economic incentive is not there for me to replace car trips with Metrorail trips. If gas were $5 per gallon or if the Metrorail fare was $1 then I would be more inclined to replace automobile trips.
Tony makes a great point that it took NYC 100 years to implement the extensive transit system they have today, therefore it may not be fair to compare Miami to NYC. Even though NYC subsidizes their transit system, I still feel that comparatively we are paying an unreasonably higher price for a lesser mass transit service. Perhaps rather the subsidizing road constructions projects, we should subsidize the maintenance and operation costs of mass transit?
I don’t particularly agree with our municipal government’s logic that they can’t build new lines due to maintenance and operations costs. They are not looking at the bigger transportation paradigm which includes the actual costs of building and maintaining roads.
Honestly, take those $2 million and find a way to expand the Metrorail route. I know it takes a lot more than that, but that’s the kind of expansion the Metrorail should be looking at, not free Wi-Fi (that’s so 2007!). It is painfully obvious that people in charge of the Metrorail project have no clue what needs to be fixed in order to get the thing to work as it should for an increase in use.
Agreed Daniel, the money would be better spent elsewhere. I would rather see $2million going to maintenance or improving the quality of service. I don’t foresee too many people using their laptops on the trains. Dadeland to Downtown is about a 20 minute train ride. If you are lucky enough to get a seat on the train, how much work can you really get done on a short train ride? Not much is my guess. I would rather see Wi-Fi on Tri Rail; I think it would be used much more since the trips are considerably longer.
I think they do need to improve the train system down here. I don’t get why the system here is so disjointed. You have metro mover, metro rail and now they want to do a light rail as well. Makes no sense to me and it will confuse riders. All the world renowned systems in the world have a unified train system and unified bus system. They don’t have three or four different sets of inter city rail, its silly. If anything they should expand metro mover so you can get any and everywhere downtown, everywhere else in the urban core and I mean EVERYWHERE (yes this includes the beaches) you should be able to hop on metro rail and get anywhere. this should go from morningside all thew ay to the southern tip of the grove. This should also extend to Biscayne
Tony Garcia are there studies which show the actual cost of ownership between heavy rail and buses as opposed to roadways?
None that I know of, but I’m sure there is something out there. I’ll look into it.
This must be targeted to owners of first-generation iPhones. FINALLY, the respect we DESERVE!
lol..i thought it was about time.
[...] on implementing improved passenger amenities, such as real-time bus tracking and WiFi access. MDT began rolling it its popular Wi-Fi service in 2010, and currently provides service in all Metro-Rail trains, and approximately 20% of the bus fleet. [...]