Wi-fi on every train? Price gives Metra Board pause
Metra staff agreed Thursday to investigate the cost of folding Internet air cards into monthly rail fare packages after board committee members were taken aback by the projected tab of offering Wi-Fi on moving trains.
A consultant estimated that launching Wi-Fi that tapped Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-mobile to provide maximum reception on all 11 Metra rail lines would cost $33.5 million a year and $71.7 million over five years.
Left out of the equation was how much revenue Metra could reap from advertising and marketing because all of the bidders wanted to leave that up to Metra rather than assume responsibility for it and reflect that revenue stream in their bid.
“I’m taken aback by this,” said Metra board member Mike McCoy during a meeting of the Metra Capital Oversight Committee he chairs. “My impression was this was a cost neutral proposition.” McCoy noted that many people now carry their own “hotspots” to get Wi-Fi connections and wondered if Wi-Fi was “kinda on the way out.”
Board committee member William Widmer III said the $72 million 5-year Wi-Fi tab “brings out the Luddite in me” and urged a “long hard look” at possible Wi-Fi revenues as well as alternatives.
As one option, Metra staff said they would investigate adding an aircard plugin, which they said costs about $40 a month, to monthly fare packages. The alternative would allow passengers Internet access without the operational and capital costs triggered by a Metra Wi-Fi system, said Metra staff member Alex Wiggins.
Providing Wi-Fi Internet connectivity on a moving train over 11 different lines is tricky business, staff noted. The stainless steel train doors require two transmitters per car.
Staff hopes to come up with a proposal that could be piloted for a year on Metra’s Rock Island line — an option that would cost $3.4 million if Wi-Fi were used rather than aircards.