MTA shuts down free Wi-Fi on buses after 7 years of service

Chairman of the MTA Janno Lieber cited low usage rates across express and local buses as the reason for the end of this service.

News 12 Staff

Jan 31, 2023, 1:48 AM

Updated 615 days ago

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The MTA has cut off Wi-Fi service on all of the over 4,200 buses that were equipped with internet access.  
The announcement came at an MTA board meeting that took place Monday, where the chair of the MTA weighed in on the agency’s decision.  
“The bottom line is, we had the service out there for several years…folks were not using it,” said Janno Lieber, CEO of the MTA.  
According to the agency, just under 5% of riders used the free Wi-Fi on express buses. On local buses, only 1.5% of passengers were using the service.  
Since the MTA rolled out the buses with Wi-Fi in 2016, 75% of its fleet has offered the service. They say ending this will put $3.3 million back into the agency’s funds yearly.