To use the free Wi-Fi, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County riders will see “ridemetro-wifi” as an option from a list of available connections and will need to put in their email address and approve METRO’s terms and conditions. (Courtesy Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County)
“It’s something we’ve been looking at for a couple of years now,” METRO Chief Information Officer Denise Wendler said in a news release. “We’re excited to finally expand this service throughout our fleet.”
To use the free Wi-Fi, METRO riders will see “ridemetro-wifi” as an option from a list of available connections and will need to put in their email address and approve METRO’s terms and conditions, according to the release.
METRO’s addition of the free Wi-Fi on its buses, paratransit vehicles and trains will occur over the next several months in a phased rollout, it said in the release. According to METRO Public Information Officer Monica Russo, over 50% of METRO’s vehicles are already equipped with the free Wi-Fi.
The opportunity to offer this service on METRO began in 2019 through a partnership with the city of Houston and Microsoft known as the city’s Smart City Initiative. Wi-Fi was provided on select bus routes and METRORail’s Green and Purple lines, but the pilot program was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russo said.
According to the release, Wi-Fi connectivity on METRORail is expected to be up and running by early 2022. Vehicles with METRO’s free Wi-Fi will have a decal indicating the availability of the service.
