LTC and Wi-Fi; Some assembly (& patience) required!

I am once again riding to work on the 14 Highbury bus on the LTC. Today is grey and damp as spring makes an effort to flush away the long winter. I just met an old acquaintance named Sean, a Postie, who has been riding this route for over 20 years. He said that in all his years of bussing on London Transit, his biggest complaint is the lack of timely connections between other key routes.

One thing Sean and I talked about was how high public expectations can be when changes are needed and suggested in the media etc. He's very right to point out that major projects take research, proposals, contract bidding and installation/implementation. So while the buzz on the street is "I hear they're putting Wi-Fi on the buses" I am very quick to dispel the rumour with "No, they're talking about it!" It goes to show you how simple suggestions in the media can blow up so quickly.

Imagine what would go into mobile networking of that nature. The bus systems are already connected by some sort of satellite or mobile network for the purpose of the voice stop announcements and the online real time route mapping. Building a system powerful and reliable enough to satisfy the high expectations of the average Londoner regarding their public services can't be an easy task at all. Imagine the rage when someone has to try 3 times to send an email? Oh, the potential drama!

You certainly wouldn't want the London Transit Commission just throwing a system into place and wait to see what kind of glitches present themselves of course. This would not go over well with the average Londoner. They would squawk and squeal about "tax dollars" and "high fares" and the LTC management would never live it down. It would be enough to reduce Londoners to a pitch fork and torch mob marching angrily up to Larry DuCharme's door.

So I am certainly willing to give them the time needed. The fact is that at this point they are looking at it as viable and this is good. It does not mean it's a done deal, but certainly talking about it and researching it is a step in the right direction. It would give London a chance at experiencing some cutting edge ideas and technologies. So what if not a lot of other cities are doing it yet? Why couldn't London be at the forefront for once regarding something that the people obviously want.

I have to warn you though, it won't be without it's own unique set of controversies and the number one concern will be "How will it affect our fares?"

I had proposed elsewhere that it could be a prepaid service that you buy a personalized access code for. This would be a simple way of offsetting the service costs as well as infrastructural overhead and as easy to administer as their ticket and pass sales.

Fares won't be the only stewing point however for a small yet vocal and influential group of riders who will feel that somehow they'll be put out by the extra devices on the bus. Fair enough, netbooks and laptops have cases and they're going to sit somewhere while the item is in the users lap. Maybe some won't like the noises from them? Maybe some won't like the glow?

There's no telling what kinds of inconveniences will arise from the service, so maybe a little research in other cities that have the services will help? Interview the people that use it elsewhere and get opinions & ideas from the "experts" and see how it can be presented here in London the right way the first time.

My key point being that we cannot expect this to happen over night and why would we want it to? If it's going to be a quality service, it requires quality efforts in research and implementation. Would you expect any less Londoners?