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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (aka Metro) has broken ground on a multi-phase project to bring cellular service and Wi-Fi to the Los Angeles subway system, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
The project is slated for completion in 2017
The system's Red Line, which runs from Union Station in Downtown LA to North Hollywood, will be the first line to receive the long-awaited upgrade after years of foot-dragging. Robert Fischer, Metro’s systems project manager, told the Daily News the project's contract was awarded nearly two years ago, but security fears and concerns about interfering with radio communication among first-responders delayed the project.
Metro’s contractor, InSite Wireless, LLC, will bring Wi-Fi and cell service to four Red Line stations — Westlake, Wilshire / Western, Wilshire / Vermont, and Vermont / Sunset — before extending service to North Hollywood, and then to Pasadena and East LA on the Gold Line. The project will take an estimated $800,000 and two years to complete.
It's still the Los Angeles subway
Fischer says Wi-Fi will only be available on station platforms and not on trains, while passengers should have continuous cell service in stations and on moving trains.
This development doesn't really change the fact that the Los Angeles Metro is small, agonizingly slow and stops running at 2AM on weekends. But it does give us hope that New York's wireless underground orchestra will be able to take its show on the road.
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