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It seems to me that if adding such technology itself can increase ridership then that in itself is a payment. More users is more money in the form of riders. But this is sticky situation, and one has to make sure that it does attract enough new people to be worth the investment.
Another option is always ads, which is a double edge sword because people do not enjoy looking at ads at all. Which could drive away users and make the service pointless in itself.
A payment options could be used, but that could be inconvenient, and possibly only useful for people who ride the system for long periods of time making it worth it.
Perhaps a tiered system, with throttled bandwidth would work. A free version with a slower connections, and then a little paid one for people who want or need more bandwidth. This way the system can still attract more customers, yet monetize the system with a paid subscription. Also in this system user do not have to pay anything to try the system, a great advantage. Here users will be able to start using the system for free, and test it out. Once a user tests the system, and finds it an enjoyable experience they then might opt for the paid subscription. Also it might be worth it to drive people toward a particular service, and use this connectivity as a feature of that service. Let's say that there is this tiered system for users who pay money per trip. Yet, it might be worth it to add the increased bandwidth tier to people who already pay for something like an unlimited monthly pass. This could drive people to buy more unlimited passes due to the extra feature.
I would think the last method is the best way to increase ridership and pay for the connectivity as well.
Hope this helps.
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A monthly subscription rate would be best. They could set up their own network and charge for it, but they'd need a good advanced setup and it would be much easier to team up with an ISP. A local ISP would probably be very willing to do it since they'd be getting plenty of local free advertising.
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Source(s):
http://www.switched.com/2008/12/15/delta-begins-in-flight-wi-fi-rollout-and...
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I am certain a business that receives a notable number of it's customers or has the potential to do so, of the public transportation system, would be eager to pay for a chance at influencing people already in transit to come by.
Software can be adapted to run a scroll bar advertisement, while riders are using the internet service provided to them for free. Most would be happy to accept this. In addition, advertisements can be sold on the informational cards, which tell riders how to go online, or the signs inside which make riders aware of the access.
To implement this effectively, you could run a survey of travelers and find out where they are going. Pitch the business that receive customers via transit, and their competitors with the results. Let them pay for it. They will jump at the opportunity if they are smart. Public transportation = captive audience. People will look at whatever flashy animation is infront of them, as long as they can stick a screen in their face.
Source(s):
personal experience
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WIRED magazine sponsored the wifi in Union Square in New York City
http://www.unionsquarenyc.org/wireless.html
According to this story Nokia is sponsoring Wifi in New York City parks:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/07/06/HNnokiawifinewyorkparks_1.html
Here is a list of free wifi spots at airports. You can click through on each one to see who sponsors it. http://www.wififreespot.com/airport.html
JetBlue sponsors free wifi themselves at their terminals.
Sponsorship is the way to go, and since you have a splash screen and you need to put up posters anyway this a no-brainer.
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Nokia is doing this in parks in New York City, and WIRED has sponsored wifi as well.
Since you have to put up a splash screen and posters for Wifi you can just put "brought to you by... " the sponsor name.
Piece of cake!
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There's also loyalty based programs. For instance, for a transit system, internet could be packaged with month-long passes, presenting an added bonus to people willing to commit to using public transit, or providing an opportunity to people who use it a lot already.
Source(s):
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2008/05/06/how-to-moneti...
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My answer : Eat the initial investment (you can actually implement something like this for fairly cheap per transit vehicle for the overall return on investment if the pricing is right), charge a nominal fee for daily service (don't allow individual per-hour usage. Use large chunks of time to guarantee income for the timespan. An example of this would be to sell it in 4 hour chunks). You can then pipe all of this traffic through a wireless infrastructure into a device such as a Nomadix that will allow control and guarantee of payment.
Hope that gets you on the right track.
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Then advertisement can be sold online on this specific home website and target transit system users only, in a seamlessly manner, without requesting any extra cost from anyone using and providing the service.
Source(s):
My mind
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I think options that would be more attractive might be having the session sponsored by a single sponsor that has a persistent logo or ad that doesn't require excessive page space. As the session boots up, "this free session is brought to you by ___________" Similarly you could choose to roll a single hi paying pre-roll video advertisement prior to the session. Then let the viewers surf un-hindered. If you don't want to go ad based I would consider very reasonable micropayments through a trusted service like paypal. Virtual currency in social networks might be a way to monetize but you'd have to have the right partnership. Finally a combination of micropayments with options to take a survery instead of payment could be another way to go. Similar to what Offerpal does on Facebook.
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I don't think this is posting...
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2) Riders could choose to pay an extra small fee to purchase a login/password on their ticket. People are already willing to spend $5 to rent headphones on airplanes.
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Your question presumes that transit agencies should be looking for new revenue sources. Yet in this day and age, when every city is trying to reduce its carbon footprint, transit agencies should be focused on finding creative ways to get more riders.
Publicly-owned agencies, which have a mission to serve the public good, should not be identifying new ways to take money from the public, particularly for a service that has nothing to do with their mission of efficiently moving people from one place to another. These agencies should instead be focused on making use of mass transit more accessible and user-friendly, perhaps by offering FREE internet use on buses and trains. Charging for this service, let alone trying to profit from it, would be a move in the wrong direction.
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Source(s):
Business experience
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Many users of public transportation aren't occasional users. I'd venture to say that the majority of users take public transportation to/from work every day and would benefit from a low cost (maybe $15) monthly fee.
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Both of which have their own problems. On the bright side oil prices are rising and more and more people are considering taking public transportation. So oil prices are great for promoting mass transit. However it also increases the cost of operating mass transit. A way to get ahead of this hurdle is to start by decommissioning the oldest vehicles and replacing them with fuel efficient ones. With the state of the auto industry and the billions of government dollars that need to be put to good use. Getting an agreement setup between mass transit and Detroit would make a lot of sense.
With your new buses come your new technology at a low cost. Thats my two cents
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Answered Question
M$5
December 16, 2008 09:54 PM
Internet access on public transit systems is becoming popular. What are some ways to monetize this service?
Most transit systems operate in the red yet they want to provide added services to their riders. But without raising rider fees or obtaining an increase state/federal funds, these plans become benched ideas. Technology can greatly enhance ridership on public systems. Question is, how can it get paid for?
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| December 16, 2008 11:08 PM |
Another option is always ads, which is a double edge sword because people do not enjoy looking at ads at all. Which could drive away users and make the service pointless in itself.
A payment options could be used, but that could be inconvenient, and possibly only useful for people who ride the system for long periods of time making it worth it.
Perhaps a tiered system, with throttled bandwidth would work. A free version with a slower connections, and then a little paid one for people who want or need more bandwidth. This way the system can still attract more customers, yet monetize the system with a paid subscription. Also in this system user do not have to pay anything to try the system, a great advantage. Here users will be able to start using the system for free, and test it out. Once a user tests the system, and finds it an enjoyable experience they then might opt for the paid subscription. Also it might be worth it to drive people toward a particular service, and use this connectivity as a feature of that service. Let's say that there is this tiered system for users who pay money per trip. Yet, it might be worth it to add the increased bandwidth tier to people who already pay for something like an unlimited monthly pass. This could drive people to buy more unlimited passes due to the extra feature.
I would think the last method is the best way to increase ridership and pay for the connectivity as well.
Hope this helps.
| Asker's Rating: |
• This answer adds a little something more with the idea of increasing monthly passes for the transit system. Sort of like a premium subscriber benefits. It is an idea to work with.
Thanks for taking the time pi9855
Have a Merry Christmas!
Thanks for taking the time pi9855
Have a Merry Christmas!
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Other Answers (23)
December 16, 2008 10:04 PM
Do like Starbucks does, ask T-Mobile or someone similar to set up the wireless system and charge for it(a reasonable rate, of course). That way if people were subscribed to their service, they could access the internet along the way. They should most likely be saving money anyways and if they're going about bringing laptops on the subway/train/bus, then they obviously want the access and should be willing to pay for it. A monthly subscription rate would be best. They could set up their own network and charge for it, but they'd need a good advanced setup and it would be much easier to team up with an ISP. A local ISP would probably be very willing to do it since they'd be getting plenty of local free advertising.
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December 16, 2008 10:07 PM
Actually, I think you should try to implement something similar to what Delta is doing right now with their in-flight internet access. I would suggest it be a little cheaper since you don't require as much machines to keep the connection as you would with a plane. You could set up a pay-per-minute thing, and it does work... It would make riding the subways a little more convenient. Link is in the sources section..
Source(s):
http://www.switched.com/2008/12/15/delta-begins-in-flight-wi-fi-rollout-and...
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December 16, 2008 10:09 PM
Advertising can pay for nearly anything. I am certain a business that receives a notable number of it's customers or has the potential to do so, of the public transportation system, would be eager to pay for a chance at influencing people already in transit to come by.
Software can be adapted to run a scroll bar advertisement, while riders are using the internet service provided to them for free. Most would be happy to accept this. In addition, advertisements can be sold on the informational cards, which tell riders how to go online, or the signs inside which make riders aware of the access.
To implement this effectively, you could run a survey of travelers and find out where they are going. Pitch the business that receive customers via transit, and their competitors with the results. Let them pay for it. They will jump at the opportunity if they are smart. Public transportation = captive audience. People will look at whatever flashy animation is infront of them, as long as they can stick a screen in their face.
Source(s):
personal experience
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December 16, 2008 10:10 PM
Very simple: advertising. Give the Wifi provider new billboards inside the station and on the splash screen. If they don't want the advertisement get a 3rd party to sponsor it. WIRED magazine sponsored the wifi in Union Square in New York City
http://www.unionsquarenyc.org/wireless.html
According to this story Nokia is sponsoring Wifi in New York City parks:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/07/06/HNnokiawifinewyorkparks_1.html
Here is a list of free wifi spots at airports. You can click through on each one to see who sponsors it. http://www.wififreespot.com/airport.html
JetBlue sponsors free wifi themselves at their terminals.
Sponsorship is the way to go, and since you have a splash screen and you need to put up posters anyway this a no-brainer.
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December 16, 2008 10:12 PM
Advertising and sponsorship is clearly yhe best model. Nokia is doing this in parks in New York City, and WIRED has sponsored wifi as well.
Since you have to put up a splash screen and posters for Wifi you can just put "brought to you by... " the sponsor name.
Piece of cake!
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December 16, 2008 10:13 PM
Advertising is one way. Increased ridership means increased exposure, so as ridership increases, they could charge more for advertising space. If they could slip adds into web browsing, it would be ideal. Since people using the internet on public transit means they're not looking around at signs. There's also loyalty based programs. For instance, for a transit system, internet could be packaged with month-long passes, presenting an added bonus to people willing to commit to using public transit, or providing an opportunity to people who use it a lot already.
Source(s):
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2008/05/06/how-to-moneti...
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December 16, 2008 10:24 PM
Here is the problem with the question you are asking: You want to provide service for the riders but do not want to put the funds up to facilitate it. (I'm using "you" in the general term). One option would be to increase advertisement on the transit system. If this isn't possible (over saturation, for example), you can provide the service after having put in the initial investment and provide the service as a "pay to play" service. This is common practice with companies that want to provide additional services but want to have the consumer share some of the burden of initial cost. My answer : Eat the initial investment (you can actually implement something like this for fairly cheap per transit vehicle for the overall return on investment if the pricing is right), charge a nominal fee for daily service (don't allow individual per-hour usage. Use large chunks of time to guarantee income for the timespan. An example of this would be to sell it in 4 hour chunks). You can then pipe all of this traffic through a wireless infrastructure into a device such as a Nomadix that will allow control and guarantee of payment.
Hope that gets you on the right track.
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December 16, 2008 10:28 PM
Well without implicating the rider's fees or state funds, I would say the internet access provided there would have to make everyone go to "the public transit system" website once you connect to their internet service... this is the case on most free hot spots like restaurants and airports. Then advertisement can be sold online on this specific home website and target transit system users only, in a seamlessly manner, without requesting any extra cost from anyone using and providing the service.
Source(s):
My mind
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December 16, 2008 10:28 PM
The conventional way to do this is by wrapping any of the content requested in a frame that contains pay per click ads. This is what I've seen the free wifi in municipalities attempt. I would think your click through rate would be pretty dismal as users would find it a nuisance and avoid clicking. Based on the failure of those networks I've seen in my area apparently it didn't do well. I think options that would be more attractive might be having the session sponsored by a single sponsor that has a persistent logo or ad that doesn't require excessive page space. As the session boots up, "this free session is brought to you by ___________" Similarly you could choose to roll a single hi paying pre-roll video advertisement prior to the session. Then let the viewers surf un-hindered. If you don't want to go ad based I would consider very reasonable micropayments through a trusted service like paypal. Virtual currency in social networks might be a way to monetize but you'd have to have the right partnership. Finally a combination of micropayments with options to take a survery instead of payment could be another way to go. Similar to what Offerpal does on Facebook.
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December 16, 2008 10:28 PM
I don't think my answer showed up, strangely, but I recommend working with a local ISP. They would likely be willing to provide the equipment/funding to set up wifi access if they were able to charge connection fees or increase their local advertising for cheap/free. Also, people on trains who bring laptops and need to do work are usually willing to pay for connection fees. Subscriptions are best though. With possible one-time-use fees as well..
Source(s):
I don't think this is posting...
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December 16, 2008 10:30 PM
1) There are ways for the routers used on the transit systems to inject (extra) advertisements into the websites before they are relayed to the users. This could potentially be a source of extra funds. 2) Riders could choose to pay an extra small fee to purchase a login/password on their ticket. People are already willing to spend $5 to rent headphones on airplanes.
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December 16, 2008 10:52 PM
I'm not sure I agree that "most transit systems operate in the red," but even if that's true, publicly-owned mass transit is not supposed to be a profit-making enterprise. Your question presumes that transit agencies should be looking for new revenue sources. Yet in this day and age, when every city is trying to reduce its carbon footprint, transit agencies should be focused on finding creative ways to get more riders.
Publicly-owned agencies, which have a mission to serve the public good, should not be identifying new ways to take money from the public, particularly for a service that has nothing to do with their mission of efficiently moving people from one place to another. These agencies should instead be focused on making use of mass transit more accessible and user-friendly, perhaps by offering FREE internet use on buses and trains. Charging for this service, let alone trying to profit from it, would be a move in the wrong direction.
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December 16, 2008 10:53 PM
Partner with a provider that can provision the service and be responsible for billing and collecting. The downside would be less revenue if the provider has to front the costs as the system may well have to make do with just a franchise fee. The upside is a revenue stream with little risk in implementing a technology that the system may not have much expertise in setting up and maintaining.
Source(s):
Business experience
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December 16, 2008 11:10 PM
Make it a simple subscription service. Many users of public transportation aren't occasional users. I'd venture to say that the majority of users take public transportation to/from work every day and would benefit from a low cost (maybe $15) monthly fee.
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December 17, 2008 12:25 AM
Free is ALWAYS better, but if it must be monetized, I would make it free, with ad-support. Maybe an ad would always be displayed in the browser or something. I think in the end it will make more money than charging a fee. Many more customers this way.
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December 17, 2008 02:59 AM
There are really only two ways to remedy the problem you describe. Increase revenue (more rides) or cut costs. Both of which have their own problems. On the bright side oil prices are rising and more and more people are considering taking public transportation. So oil prices are great for promoting mass transit. However it also increases the cost of operating mass transit. A way to get ahead of this hurdle is to start by decommissioning the oldest vehicles and replacing them with fuel efficient ones. With the state of the auto industry and the billions of government dollars that need to be put to good use. Getting an agreement setup between mass transit and Detroit would make a lot of sense.
With your new buses come your new technology at a low cost. Thats my two cents
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I like the bundling position. Monthly pass users get the cap removed by virtue of buying the monthly pass.
Good thought.
Thanks