The Texas Department of Transportation plans to offer free Internet access via Wi-Fi at all 84 of its rest areas and 12 travel information centers, the department announced recently.
Last fall, TxDOT said it started a test of the service, installing the technology at four rest areas on U.S. 287 in north Texas.
Wi-Fi, which stands for wireless fidelity, is a system that provides high-speed Internet access through a wireless version of a local computer network. The system has limited range and is usually found at truck stops, coffee shops, bookstores and other commercial locations.
However, recently, a number of government agencies have started programs to offer the service for free.
The Iowa Department of Transportation announced recently it had equipped six of the state’s rest areas with free high-speed wireless Internet access, also at no charge to travelers. Iowa will test the service for six months, and will then evaluate whether it is feasible to provide wireless access at all Iowa rest areas. Four of the hot spots are on Interstate 80, while two more are found on I-35.
A company called Aiirnet Wireless announced late in 2003 that it would install a citywide Wi-Fi wireless Internet access system in Cerritos, CA. That system will cover the entire 8.6 square miles of the city of 50,000 residents. Woodland Hills, CA-based Aiirnet describes that installation as the largest Wi-Fi service deployment in the United States. The town is near Interstates 5, 105 and 605, as well as state Highway 91.
TxDOT said it hoped the Wi-Fi installations in Texas would encourage drivers to stop and the rest areas and therefore reduce the number of fatigued drivers on the road. So far, the results of the state’s tests have been encouraging.
"The feedback we’ve received so far has been very positive," Andy Keith, safety rest area program manager for TxDOT’s Maintenance Division, said in a statement. "Texas’ highways are seeing an increasing number of business travelers, truckers and RVers, and access to e-mail is important to them. They have responded very favorably to our four hot spots on U.S. 287."
The Texas program will not be limited to wireless Internet. The state plans to place Internet kiosks at its rest areas to provide Web access to drivers who do not have wireless connections. While the Wi-Fi service will be free, people who use the kiosks will likely be available to visitors in 15-minute increments that they pay for with a credit card.
Mark Cross, a spokesman for TxDOT, said the Wi-Fi hot spots are linked to an ongoing program to renovate all of the state’s 84 rest areas. About a third of the rest areas have already been renovated and can support Wi-Fi.
“We’re looking to start as soon as possible on those that have already been renovated and have the capability to support the technology,” he said. Wi-Fi would be installed first at those already renovated, and other rest areas would wait until renovations were complete. “The whole renovation program could range anywhere from five to 15 years before we complete all of them.”
However, at this point, Cross said the program is waiting while state officials go over proposals to provide the service.
“We haven’t quite decided yet” how the state should proceed, Cross said. “It all depends on what these response to the request for offer turn out.”
--by Mark H. Reddig, associate editor
Mark Reddig can be reached at mark_reddig@landlinemag.com.
