On Tuesday, for the first time, commuters on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) railway were able to maintain cell coverage throughout the Transbay Tube -- a big time dead zone. BART passengers now have a continuous wireless access from the West Oakland BART Station all the way to Balboa Park with service is available to Sprint/Nextel, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and MetroPCS subscribers. 160,900 customers ride through the Transbay Tube each weekday
In the announcement, the president of BART's Board, James Fang said, "Underground wireless service has been expanded to the Transbay Tube thus providing seamless above and below ground mobile service for BART customers riding between Oakland and San Francisco. The best news is that the installation and operational costs are paid by the providers-not by BART. The wireless providers are Sprint/Nextel, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and MetroPCS."
On day one, commuter reaction was mixed. According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, "Phone calls from at least two of the four carriers that installed and paid for the wireless access dropped as usual as trains entered the Transbay Tube, texting was often unavailable, and Internet pages failed to load."
AT&T and T-Mobile -- No Bars...
John Britton, a spokesman for AT&T, said that the company was still making a few tweaks and that its customers would have to wait a day or two for access. And a spokesman for T-Mobile said its customers would also have to wait a few days for full wireless access.
The story also mentioned how some riders dread the prospect of their fellow passengers screaming into their phones to make themselves heard over the tube's roar.
>> For me, being able to text has been critical. Last night I had my husband text me while under the Bay and he had no trouble getting a message to me (He's on Verizon). <<
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