BART Adds Cellular to Its Tunnels

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

I was using BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) last week, and as I went through the Transbay Tube, I was playing a game on my phone, and I saw the signal bar go to nil. I started thinking, why can’t they put antennas in the tubes? I mean, they’re talking about cellular phones on planes, so why not in the tubes?

Good timing, as in today’s San Francisco Chronicle it was noted that BART has become the first transit system in the nation to offer wireless communication to its passengers underground. Now, the article indicated that only five of the Bay Area’s six wireless carriers have signed up, and that the sixth is in negotiation, but did not list the carrier names.

When BART first broached this idea in mid-2001, many passengers objected … but two surveys soon after, one online and one random phone survey were positive, and probably, BART officials state, influenced by 9/11.

Contractors recently wired the subways from the west end of the Transbay Tube to the Civic Center Station. Downtown Oakland is probably next, followed by Civic Center to Balboa Park, the Transbay Tube, the Berkeley hills tunnel and the Berkeley subway. The wireless companies will determine the timetable.

Commuters interviewed in downtown San Francisco BART stations Thursday and Friday were mostly receptive to the idea of subterranean cell phone service, although some fretted that loud, ill-mannered callers would degrade the quality of their commutes.

“It’s great as long as people are considerate about the people around them when they use their phones — keeping their conversations to a minimum, not being too loud or boisterous,'’ said Ryan Bezenek, a San Francisco network engineer.

Some BART riders, like Stephanie Elliott, a psychotherapist from Pacifica, aren’t so sure of the need for constant connectivity.

“I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary,'’ she said. “I think it encourages people to have too hectic a lifestyle. People are always online or hooked up and don’t actually talk with other people except online.'’ Source: SFGate

We Say: Without an excuse nowadays, companies expect many of us to be always connected. I’ll miss the dead zones, honestly. I also agree with Elliott (and of course, I’m influenced by my psychologist wife) … people need some downtime. However, when going through tunnels, it’s really too noisy to be on the phone anyway, so most likely, as the article indicates, it’s going to be Blackberry users for the most part who reap the benefit … unless people start shouting into their phones … at which time I’ll get really irritated.