Photo by Beau Finley
WMATA officials have released a list of the next round of stations that will get free WiFi service by the end of this year, largely in downtown and along the Red Line.
Around August, crews will begin installing service at 24 underground stations that will join the six stations—Metro Center, Gallery Place, L’Enfant Plaza, Union Station, Judiciary Square, and Archives—that currently have WiFi as part of a pilot program that Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld launched last year.
Wiedefeld said in December that the decision to expand the program is “based on positive rider feedback.”
If all goes as planned, riders will have free WiFi at 60 percent of Metro’s underground stops by the end of 2017. And the rest of Metro’s underground stations should be equipped by the middle of next year, according to the statement.
WMATA announced in February of 2016 that crews are also installing radio cable along tunnel walls throughout the rail system to provide cell service. The plan dates back to 2008, when Metro signed contracts with several mobile providers, but nixed the deal after a series of issues—so the system is now handling the project itself.
Not only will better connectivity help riders survive extended wait times, it’ll help satisfy Congress and the Federal Transit Administration’s push for increased safety measures throughout the system.
Here are the two dozen new stations in the order that they’ll get free internet access.
- Smithsonian
- Farragut West
- Crystal City
- Dupont Circle
- Rosslyn
- Clarendon
- Court House
- Navy Yard-Ballpark
- Waterfront
- Anacostia
- McPherson Sq
- Foggy Bottom-GWU
- Farragut North
- Cleveland Part
- Van Ness-UDC
- Tenleytown – AU
- Friendship Heights
- Bethesda
- Medical Center
- Mt. Vernon Sq
- Shaw-Howard U
- U Street
- Columbia Heights
- Federal Center SW
