4 TriCounty Link routes go wireless
TriCounty Link commuters between Summerville, Moncks Corner and North Charleston can now pass the time online.
The rural bus service recently spent about $150 per bus for equipment and wireless service that lets passengers along four of its 15 routes connect to the Internet.
Executive Director Will Hutto said TriCounty Link apparently is the first public bus service in South Carolina to offer an unsecured wireless network. "It's certainly the first rural bus service," he said.
TriCounty Link began experimenting with the wireless devices about a month ago, and the experiment worked well enough to expand it to four commuter routes that carry a diverse group of riders, including many who own laptops.
"The ridership on these routes tends to be those workers that are very IT (information technology)-savvy and work a good bit with their computers," he said. "This gives them an opportunity to get some work done to and from work."
About 100 commuters ride those four buses, with the average trip covering about 15 miles and lasting 20 to 30 minutes -- plenty of time to check e-mail, visit Facebook or peruse other corners of the web.
TriCounty Link has been on a recent roll, increasing its ridership 39 percent between July 2009 and March.
Hutto said the agency hopes the new Wi-Fi devices will pay for themselves, and the $50 per bus service fee, by luring new riders and keeping current ones. He added, businesses whose workers use the service also could help defray the cost.
Meanwhile, the new wireless service also will help change the image of commuting by bus -- underscoring how it's not just for those who don't own cars.
"I think it's changing the image of public transit, and that's what we've got to do to make an impact on the tri-county area if we're going to get people out of their cars and on the buses," he said. "The problem is it's not an overnight thing."
Hutto said the agency eventually could offer wireless on additional routes, such as McClellanville and Edisto Island, if this expanded experiment works well and the demand seems to be there.
TriCounty Link provides public bus service to the areas outside Charleston's urban core, which is served by the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority, better known as CARTA.
