Roll-out expected to be completed by the end of the year
Transport for Edinburgh is adding free WiFi to all its vehicles.
In 2010 Lothian Buses began putting WiFi on its buses as part of a trial, which proved to be extremely popular and well used by passengers. By summer 2013 over 70 vehicles were fitted with the service.
Last year the company engaged with The City of Edinburgh Council and its Connected Capital Programme. Following a successful bid process, Transport for Edinburgh secured funding to put free WiFi on all its buses and trams.
The entire Edinburgh Tram fleet now has the free to use WiFi on board and the process is underway to install all 600 buses with this service. The process should be completed towards the end of the year.
The WiFi is being provided by Icomera, which is installing its 4G LTE system across the fleet. It has been providing WiFi for Lothian Buses since 2010.
Ian Craig, Chief Executive, Transport for Edinburgh said: “This is a further step towards making the entire Transport for Edinburgh fleet WiFi enabled, something that passengers really wanted to see.
“Our customers can now check their social media feeds and emails or find out when they can catch their connecting bus, while on the move, for free.
“We’ll make an announcement once we’ve completed our installations on the entire bus fleet towards the end of this year.”
Dave Palmer, VP Sales at Icomera, commented: “Lothian Buses is recognised throughout the public transport industry for its high levels of customer service, so the natural complement to this is a high quality, high speed onboard WiFi service on all bus and tram services. We look forward to working with Transport for Edinburgh over the coming years, using this fleet-wide IP network as a springboard for a host of real-time applications and services.”
Transport for Edinburgh is also making its m-ticket app more convenient, with the range of available payment options expanded.
In addition to paying with a registered debit or credit card, passengers can now pay for m-tickets using Barclays Pingit, using just a mobile number. Barclays Pingit can be used whether the customer banks with Barclays or not and is a free service.
