The Iowa Department of Transportation has equipped six of the state’s rest areas with free high-speed wireless Internet access, the state agency announced recently.

The rest areas involved in the project are:

• I-35 just south of Osceola (southbound and northbound facilities);
• I-80 near Davenport (eastbound and westbound facilities);
• I-80 near Mitchellville (eastbound and westbound facilities).

The rest areas will use Wi-Fi, which stands for wireless fidelity, a form of wireless high-speed Internet access used in many truck stops, including many Flying J and Petro facilities nationwide.

But while truck stops typically charge for the service, the Iowa stops will offer it at no charge to truckers and other travelers.

Steve McMenamin, IDOT’s rest area administrator, told Land Line there would be no restrictions on who could use the service, nor any restriction on what parts of the Internet they could surf once hooked up to it.

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.

“If this technology proves beneficial to users in terms of increased highway safety and improved access to local tourist information and business services, the DOT could consider expanding it to other rest areas,”McMenamin said in a statement.

The initial six hot spots, as Wi-Fi access points are called, are being operated by I Spot Networks LLC, a wireless management and marketing firm based in Des Moines, IA. If the service is expanded to other rest areas after the test, the state will take bids from I Spot and other wireless companies to offer the free service, IDOT officials said.

To use the service, truckers would need a wireless network card and would have to register and sign in.

“After you sign on, the first thing you see is a page we actually developed ourselves,” McMenamin said, adding that the initial pages will be customized to each rest area. “You’re going to see safety information, you’re going to see the link to our Web page, the link to the Department of Public Safety, tourism stuff.”

That information will include winter road conditions; road construction; vehicle width restrictions; National Weather Service forecasts and alerts; major traffic incident reports; Amber Alerts; information on food, lodging and fuel available at nearby businesses; and local tourism attractions and events.

 “There’s no advertising on the first screen,” McMenamin said.

A user would then move to the Internet, and at that point would see ads for local businesses near that rest stop. The fees from those ads will finance the service.

“This new service has the potential to significantly increase tourism activity and local spending in the communities around the state,” said Iowa Tourism Office Manager Nancy Landess.

However, McMenamin said the real selling point is that it’s not costing the state anything.

“it won’t cost the user anything. We’re getting another service out there we didn’t have, at no charge,” he said.

The service is a cooperative venture among the departments of Economic Development, Transportation and Public Safety, and I Spot ACCESS.

--by  Mark H. Reddig, associate editor

Mark Reddig can be reached at mark_reddig@landlinemag.com.