Bus with free internet for passengers. (source: Sme - Gabriel Kuchta)
PASSENGERS on municipal public transport in Košice have been able, since mid February, to access the internet for free while riding on 20 modern buses. The buses can be recognised thanks to two internal monitors, and WiFi stickers on the doors. The buses will be used on various lines. “Lines will be swapped; and we will update passengers on our website,” Juraj Hrehorčák, general manager of the Košice City Transport Company, told the TASR newswire.
Free internet on selected buses was launched in Bratislava at the end of 2012 and tens of thousands of passengers have used it to date, the Bratislava City Transport Company stated on its website. The service began on 50 buses and in just the first six weeks more than 89,000 passengers used it to connect to the internet. The city council hopes to use the service to encourage more people to use mass transport instead of cars.
The free WiFi service is supplied in both Košice and Bratislava by the See & Go company and by mobile operator Orange Slovensko. “Košice is the second Slovak city after Bratislava to offer this service on public transport,” Ivan Šimonič of Orange told TASR, adding that only five or six other metropolises worldwide have a similar service. He said they plan to launch this service in more Slovak towns, including Poprad, Nitra and Prešov.
