Cincinnati is trying something new to entice people to ride the bus to work. They are equipping 2 buses with wireless Internet capability, allowing business commuters to work, write blog posts, read the news, or check e-mail on the way to work. I am very interested in this idea, as it would add a lot of productive time to the day. My typical commute is about 30 minutes each way. Thus, I could add an hour a day of productive time back to my life. Over the course of a month, that would yield almost an entire week worth of time that could be spent getting things accomplished. These things might be work related, personal, or educational, but would be accomplished on time that was previously spent trapped behind the wheel. This new reason for riding the bus would all be on top of the regular benefits of public transit- clean air, less traffic, save on gas. Those factors are nice, but none of them are sufficient enough to make me change from driving. Productive time is the most valuable commodity in my life. Wireless Internet on a bus would provide me with much more of that commodity, and just might be the thing that could change how I commute to work. Hopefully Cincinnati will be successful with this endeavor, and Dayton will then copy the idea. Time will tell. I applaud the city of Cincinnati for taking such a fresh approach to public transit. Voice your opinion of wireless Internet and public transit by leaving a message below.
