For some strange reason, because I have never discussed Wi-Fi (aka WiFi, aka Wee-Fee as my mom calls it despite being corrected numerous times) on this blog, I get hammered by Google searches from people wanting to know if there is Wi-Fi, specifically FREE Wi-Fi available on GO trains.Every day. Hour on the hour.
Even more odd is these queries originate in Europe for the most part as well as out of province. I suspect people are confusing GO with VIA or perhaps they are sitting in their high-speed, European bullet trains, sipping espresso while using their fancy cup holders, generous leg room, head towels, luggage racks, charging outlets and telling other passengers that "*ree-lee* eeze dat such lushuree eeze" (continue using bastardized Parisian accent) "nut availa-bull in Canuhdah, ah... Non! Look, ah weel shows you." (Begin Google search query on iPhone).
Then they all sit back in their reclining seats and guffaw at us (queue sip Espresso). CAN YOU TELL I'VE BEEN DRINKING? Gin o'clock, dammit.
But why is WiFi not available?
Posing as an important, independent, transportation media consultant, I sent a rather official sounding email to Metrolinx's media relations department (GO Transit's parent company). I used fancy language like "added-value" and "customer commuting experience enhancements". It worked because here's what I got back:
GO Transit has no short-term plans to offer Wi-Fi service at our stations, or on our trains, in the immediate future. However, we continue to investigate various Wi-Fi options, examine customer willingness to pay for this service and monitor changes in Wi-Fi technology that may make this easier to implement.So long story short, it's gonna take more than a Rogers rocket stick and a wireless router for this to be feasible. But let's say GO did provide Wi-Fi for a nominal fee ... say, $5 a month for a user name and password. I'd bite. But considering that GO has much higher priorities when it comes to enhancing my commuting experience, such as introducing Friday night bar car service, I can wait.
We always welcome feedback and encourage customers to complete a Customer Comment Form at this link on our website; http://secure.gotransit.com/en/service/ecomment.aspx
Okay, I made that up. Considering what GO's dry-cleaning tab must be because of all the dirty donkeys who can't keep their filthy shoes and boots off the seats, I suspect there isn't a lot of chunk of change for such an undertaking. So if you want Wi-Fi, how about you think twice about where you put your feet because less dry-cleaning bills means more money for alcohol. Wait, more money for Wi-Fi. But for me, gin trumps internet.
16 comments:
I knew it. Whatever!!! You've just made it sooo obvious that YOU DO WORK FOR GO.Or you know that if you sent an email as you, GO would shut u down and sue u for copyright and trademark infringement.How this site manages to stay up only means what I've said ALL ALONG. you're a CSA and this is a marketiong ploy. PERIOD. if it was legit, you would have been SHUT DOWN.
I suspect Anon has yet to familiarize one self with Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and of other media of communication
See Anon, this is why CJ is able to maintain a site like this as a member of the commuting public. Why would Metrolinx shut her down. Where on her site does she specifically abuse or associate herself with the GO brand?
She's covered under the charter to parody the G of the GO logo provided she isn't using the site for financial gain or exploiting GO's brand for profit.
I didn't pay to read this. Did you?
I'm a rye girl myself. And yes, a bar car on Fridays would certainly trump internet any day!
CJ does not work fo metrolinx. How do I know? Because she works with me and we are not in the transportation industry!
Anon, you really need to pull your head out of your ass.
I personally know CJ and she does not work for GO in any way, shape or form.
You've been going on forever about CJ working for GO. It is getting very tiresome.
If it troubles you soooooo much, may I suggest you stop reading this blog.
PS. I'm a rye drinker but CJ already knows that and Friday night bar car trumps everything!
Hey!!! Ya so I'm one of those people googling wifi from EUROPE (Geneva!!!). I have to come to Toronto for business and was looking at public transport for the city. No wifi on your TTC and a colleague told me about Go Train because we have warehouse upgrades in Ajax. Too bad! Maybe one day!!!
Installing WiFi equipment on GO Trains wouldn't be cheap. The system would have to cope with hundreds of peopel using it, and therefore need a bit more than a simple cellphone network conenction to be useful.
Given many people with wireless equipment already have a paid-for internet mobile device, I suspect that very few people would be willing to pay, so GO couldn't do it as a self-financing scheme.
(Flip side: should GO do it, it would be free, and they would view as a customer service perk, not a money-maker.)
GO not having WiFi resulted in my not getting a PlayBook while they were dirt-cheap this past week or so. I currently use a netbook with a Rocket stick, which is not compatible with the PlayBook. I don't want to spend more money to get the other gizmo that would work, so no PlayBook for me :(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi
WiFi is NOT pronounced "WeeFee", but "Why-Figh". THAT kind of thing, is why parents need to go back to elementary school, and be taught about tech! *LOL*
Anonymous's troll is pretty bizarre. He or she clearly hasn't heard of the concept of fair use. We have freedom of speech in this country, and we have the inalienable right to post our opinions about the government services we receive. If GO were to try and shut down this site, it would enter into a legal nightmare that would consume funds it does not have, and the PR nightmare it would receive would be significantly worse.
The only in that private companies have in shutting down sites that criticize their activities is in the use of trademarked logos by the sites in question, and even there, it is at best a legal grey area. Critics have been able to argue fair use and even if that gets difficult, all they need to do is remove said logo and they're pretty free and clear.
I operate Transit Toronto as a fan, and I have been in contact with TTC personnel over the use of trademarked items on the website, but the dealings have been generally cordial. There has been no question about removing my site from the net, and there has been no question about the use of TTC and GO logos on the site is fair use, as long as I DECLARE that I am NOT an official site with direct connection to the TTC or GO Transit.
I really have to wonder what's up First Anonymous's butt.
Generous legroom? Have you ever been on a European train? Reclining seats are unheard of.
The guy in the photo isn't complaining.
So no where in Europe, on a single bullet train, there is no seat that has more leg room than a GO Train? I don't buy it.
FYI .. It's costing VIA a little over $1mil a year for their new upgrade WiFi (which is considerably better than their old service)
http://www.uknomad.com/press-nomad-awarded-contract-by-via-rail-and-government-of-canada-details-94.html
There's no reason we can't have free Wi-Fi on Go Trains. VIA Rail offers free WiFi. (I know because I use it while sitting on the Milton train that's parked next to a VIA train at Union.) And VIA is a whole lot less profitable than GO or Metrolinx or whatever we're supposed to call them now.
Trev: VIA's $6.3 million/5-year outlay for Wi-Fi includes a whole in-flight (in-ride?) entertainment system as well as a wireless signalling and control platform for staff, not just simple Internet access.
Access points are so cheap, they're building them into hydo meters, house alarms, buses and new cars. And though GO Trains would need a lot of bandwidth, it's not like they would be buying it from Rogers -- they would be their own ISP.
That, or bar cars. Either way I'd be a happier GOtizen.
Most trains lead to a parking lot where you park and get on the train to get to your destination.
But the ride home, on a bar car, could be a problem for those that left their car in the lot. How do you get hone from the station while your car is in the lot?
My guess is you will still have those same idiots that say "I am fine to drive"
DANGER! WARNING WILL ROBINSON!
No different than Happy Hour after work? If you drink don't drive.
I ride a bus. Not a problem for me.
When I drove, still not a problem. I called a friend.
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