The good people at Metro have tempted us with cell service for a few years now, but in a recent interview with KPCC's show Take Two, Metro rep Dave Sotero said they're finally moving forward with plans.
Cell service will be available by the end of March between Union Station and the 7th Street/Metro Center stop on the corner of 7th and Flower streets in Downtown Los Angeles, according to the report. No word on Wi-Fi yet, but you'll have access to Internet using data on your phone. This is the first course of action Metro has taken to provide the service, so we will see how it goes.
We can see a lot of ups and downs to this project coming to fruition. For one: the classic "Sorry, I'm on the phone" is a great go-to move to keep strangers from accosting you. But at the same time, "Sorry, I didn't get your text. I was underground," has been really nice to have in our back pockets. But limitations breed creativity, so guess we'll have to come up with new excuses.
LADOT is also planning to get into the game by the end of the year. A spokesperson told KPCC that they are working on providing Wi-Fi access on all their Commuter Express buses—the organization has been doing pilot programs on select buses since 2015.
And we're not the only city focused on keeping public transit from being dead zones—last month, Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York announced that their subway system will have Wi-Fi by the end of 2016.