Guernsey's buses go hi-tech

Thursday 20 December 2018

Free WiFi is going to be available on all of Guernsey's newer buses after a successful trial.

12 of the new models had the free WiFi installed and now Sure has brought the others up to speed too.

It'll cost £50 per month, per vehicle, which when broken down is expected to cost around 1.2p per passenger journey. That money is coming from the Integrated Transport Strategy which was approved by the States some time ago, and was designed to encourage people to use alternative forms of transport, aside from the family car.

Deputy Barry Brehaut, President of the Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure, said he was pleased that a further incentive to use the bus network has been introduced.

"Travelling by bus has never been more convenient for a whole host of reasons, and the increases we’ve seen consistently in recent years attests to that. Introducing a free WiFi service further increases that convenience for passengers."

Pictured: Deputy Barry Brehaut. 

During the trial, more than 2,300 'unique users' took advantage of the WiFi with the States saying that, on average, almost 4,000 passengers per vehicle per month will have access to the service.

Jason Fitton from Sure said they are pleased to be involved with this project:

“Sure is pleased to provide this service to bus users in Guernsey and we hope that this is a further incentive to use the island’s bus network. At Sure we want to be involved in projects that benefit the community and providing WiFi on the island’s bus fleet does exactly that.”

Sure Guernsey has selected Icomera to operate the service.  It is a global company providing WiFi solutions on public transport which recently received ISO 27001 certification for information security management.   

There will be some 'usage restrictions in place' once the new buses have the free WiFi, to ensure a 'reasonable speed of service and protection for users', otherwise by selecting the ‘Free Bus WiFi’ network on buses that display a Wi-Fi symbol, users will be able to browse the internet, check emails, access social networking and shop online.  

As well as being available on the buses, the free WiFi service is also available at the Bus Information Centre in Town.   

Pictured top: A Guernsey bus.