K-10 Connector offers Wi-Fi capabilities

By Taylor Bern

Friday, August 21, 2009

Cruising at 65 miles per hour, the information highway meets Kansas Highway 10 in a pilot program aboard the K-10 Connector.

Last Monday three of the fleet’s buses became Wi-Fi enabled, making it possible to surf the Web on laptops and PDAs for free while riding.

“This was one thing that I wanted to make sure we got done because I think it’s a wonderful amenity,” technology services manager L. Scott Caldwell said.

The K-10 Connector, which is a bus service run by Johnson County Transit, runs routes from three stops in Lawrence to two stops in Overland Park along K-10.

Caldwell, who started at Johnson County Transit eight months ago, said Wi-Fi on the buses had been in the works for about a year and a half. Johnson County Transit took the time to find the most cost-effective plan. The pilot program cost just under $500.

Tom Jones, Overland Park junior, said the Wi-Fi made his trip into Lawrence much quicker, even though it runs slower than he hoped for.

“The connection is a little touch and go, but anything is better than nothing,” Jones said.

Caldwell said the technology was not unlike free Wi-Fi at coffee shops. A router on the bus is designed to interface with outside mobile broadband companies such as Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile, to convert its signals into a wireless signal on the bus.

There are six buses that run the K-10 Connector route. Three white buses currently have Wi-Fi capabilities. The other three buses are blue and are not part of the Wi-Fi program.

Johnson County Transit oversees several different bus routes, but Caldwell said there was a specific reason to test the system on the K-10 route.

“It’s the best scenario because there will be more extreme use on K-10,” Caldwell said.

With school in session, the connector is often standing room only. That kind of usage is exactly what Caldwell wants in order to test the system’s capabilities. Now that the Wi-Fi system is out there, Caldwell said he was eager to find out how well it works. Johnson County Transit created a Twitter account in February, JoCoTheJO, and has recently encouraged followers to provide feedback about the Wi-Fi.

Caldwell said he planned to ride along in the next couple of weeks to gauge usage among riders.

When the pilot program ends in October, Johnson County Transit will assess the feedback and determine if it wants to expand the service to more buses.

No matter how good or bad the reception, Caldwell said expansion would completely depend on funding.

For now, though, Caldwell said the goal of the Wi-Fi program was to get people on the bus.

“We want to make it worth their time, their effort and their money to ride with us,” he said.

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