Web Desk:
According to the national media, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) shut off its free Wi-Fi service on 4,266 city buses earlier this month.
The announcement came at an MTA board meeting that took place Monday. The transit agency says the program is rarely used and costs millions of dollars a year to run.
“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.
MTA officials say that only 1.5% of local bus passengers and 4.5% of express bus passengers system-wide used the Wi-Fi service.
According to the agency, just fewer than 5% of riders used the free Wi-Fi on express buses. On local buses, only 1.5% of passengers were using the service.
The MTA says it will be saving $3.3 million annually now that it has ended the program. Free Wi-Fi service will continue in the subway system.
Since the MTA rolled out the buses with Wi-Fi in 2016, 75% of its fleet has offered the service.
Free Wi-Fi on the subway remains in place, an MTA spokesperson confirmed.
