State ferries to offer free Wi-Fi service

By Tan Vinh
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Ferry riders who fret about their long commutes will soon be able to download video games, browse their favorite Web sites or send e-mail from many Seattle-area vessels.

Washington State Ferries will make high-speed wireless Internet service (Wi-Fi) available for free this fall on a trial basis. If it proves popular, it will be available for a fee on many ferries next year, ferry officials said.

Ferry administrators are optimistic that hundreds of riders could work from their laptops. The service also could open the way for commuters to make reservations on other ferries, recharge their Metro fare cards or pay for food with their credit cards, said Jim Long, the ferry system's director of information technology.

"The possibilities are endless," Long said. "It will improve the ridership experience."

The service will be free, most likely until next April, while ferry officials survey how many passengers want and would use the service.

For now, users would need a laptop and a Wi-Fi card enabling them to get online. By next year, a private company could install computers on ferries, administrators said.

Some passengers said the service would allow them to be more productive. Others said they might be able to leave work earlier since they could do work on the way home.

Brian Lawler, 53, an attorney who commutes from Bainbridge Island, said he could catch up on work and family e-mails "that I would normally do at home, except I would do it on a ferry instead."

If the service proves popular, private contractors could bid in January to operate and maintain the Wi-Fi connections on the ferries and charge a user fee.

Internet service will be available on the Edmonds-Kingston route by the end of September, on the Seattle-Bainbridge Island route by November and the Seattle-Bremerton route by December.
 
It also will be available at the holding areas for those routes, which together make 14 million passenger-trips a year.

Other routes could be added later. But Long said some routes don't generate enough passengers for private companies to make a profit.

Getting Internet access is a major achievement for the ferry system because it is difficult to pick up a consistent signal on a moving vessel. Washington ferries may pick up interference from vessel traffic or fog, ferry officials said.

Another concern is that if 80 passengers download large files simultaneously, it would slow down the system.

Last summer, the ferry system helped a Port Townsend-based company, Mobilisa, Inc., obtain a $775,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to test wireless technology on the ferries.

Since June 10, ferry officials have placed antennas on the Klickitat, which serves the Port Townsend-Keystone route, and have tested different wireless technologies. Administrators said they worked out the glitches and expect riders will be pleased with the result.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com