Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Wi-Fi and Smart Phone Chargers Coming to the Subway, Cuomo Says

By John Santore | January 8, 2016 6:03pm

NEW YORK CITY — Free Wi-Fi access will be provided to all of the city’s 277 underground subway stations by the end of this year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.

The plan is part of a variety of MTA improvement projects expected to be completed by 2020.

All major carriers will be covered, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said, including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and providers using those networks.

Among the other improvements announced Friday:

Countdown clocks will be added to all 7 train stops by 2018 and all lettered subway lines by 2020. By that date, real-time service data will be available for all subway lines through the MTA’s SubwayTime app.

► USB charging ports and digital information screens will be installed on 200 subway cars this year and 400 more next year.

► Across the five boroughs, 30 subway stations will be redesigned by 2020, according to the governor’s office, making them “cleaner, brighter” and “easier to navigate.”

► By 2018, 1,500 buses will have Wi-Fi hotspots and USB charging ports. Additionally, digital information screens will be installed on 200 buses this year as part of a pilot program testing their effectiveness.

► An additional 190 On The Go digital information screens will be installed in more than 20 subway stations this year, while 130 more stations will receive Help Point intercoms. All stations will have them by 2017. 

►  By the end of 2016, all Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad customers will be able to purchase tickets on a smartphone.

► By 2020, 85 percent of the city’s buses will have surveillance cameras installed. Surveillance cameras will also be tested in subway cars this year.