New York City straphangers, prepare for the latest invasion: The
Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) confirmed starting Sept. 27 that
subway riders at four stations in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan
will be able to use their mobile phones on the AT&T and T-Mobile
networks. Station coverage for the trial run, which has no official end
date, extends from the 14th Street stations from 6th Avenue to 8th
Avenue, and on the 23rd Street and 8th Avenue subway station.
The project, which is two years behind schedule, is a joint venture
between the MTA and Transit Wireless and will eventually cover all the
MTA’s underground stations. However, coverage will only extend into the
very beginning of the station tunnels, which means chatty commuters
will be limited in the length of their conversations—unless you’re
hanging out on the platform waiting for a late-night F train, perhaps.
Daniel Helmer, 30, a software engineer for FactSet and the owner of
an iPhone 4 on the AT&T network, said because he is not a huge
talker on the phone and only an occasional texter, the support of
cellular data services is a more attractive component of the service.
“When it comes to the subway I would mainly be interested in reading
stuff to pass the time, like browse the Internet,” he said. “But there
would obviously be the benefit of being able to contact ‘the outside
world’ if need be.”
While the extra noise it might bring to the ride in an unwelcome
rise in volume levels, Helmer is basically unconcerned—if also prepared
for the possibility of increased chatter. “I think that wouldn't really
bug me on the platform, but would be fairly annoying on the actual car
where you wouldn't be able to escape a loud talker,” he said. “However,
when I am commuting I am usually wearing headphones that are
essentially ear plugs.”
Other New Yorkers are not sold on the advantages—or view the
possible expansion of the technology into actual subway tunnels as a
potential headache. “[Service in] stations is alright, I guess,” said
Alex Saltiel, a production coordinator for a television network in
Midtown Manhattan. “I don’t want people on cell phones in cars—ever.
It's an enclosed space, often very crowded. I don't need people yapping
in my ear--it's bad enough when people think they can play their music sans headphones.”
The agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile are for 10 years with four
five-year renewal options, and they can be extended to include
additional underground subway stations as the wireless network is
expanded. Under its contract with the MTA, Transit Wireless will
install wireless capability in all 277 underground subway stations by
2016, according to information on the company’s Web site. In addition
to providing wireless service in subway stations, the Transit Wireless
agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile provide revenue to the MTA, which
will share in the occupancy fees paid by the carriers and other
providers of services on the network.
As New Yorkers prepare for the ups and downs of cell phone service
in their subway stations, they might find a recently released
application could be just as useful as a phone call when figuring out
delays or travel plans. The TravAlarm NYC application, distributed by
Zappmine, a service operated by software company Business Data Mine,
receives updates from the MTA and offers built-in features that allow
commuters to personalize their routes and alarm preferences. Users of
TravAlarm can set up to three different transit routes for the app to
monitor for delays. When a delay occurs on one those three routes, the
alarm will wake the commuter up at the predetermined earlier time with
a voice message describing the delay and its location.
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