<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"San Francisco has been eager to get its streets blanketed with public Wi-Fi for a long while now. The city first rested its hopes on such an open and ever-present network from the engineers at Earthlink.\nAfter a few years of attempts to get a handle on the logistics of such an effort, Earthlink, or the ISP-that-once-was, put a stop to the project. It then passed the baton over to Meraki. And though we don't know precisely is going on with Meraki's efforts, we can tell you that city Wi-Fi in San Fran is happening. Residents (and tourists, we suppose) are finally getting their free wireless broadband. Kind of. We\u2019ll explain.\nMuni, the city's transit authority, has been working with the data infrastructure experts at Cisco to get access out to the people, wherever they imagine they\u2019d need it, and the partnership has now brought to bear a retrofitted mass transit vehicle, dubbed the \u201CConnected Bus,\" writes Michael Cabanatuan of the San Francisco Chronicle today.\nThe bus - and yes, that is said with a good deal of singular emphasis - is layered in green on the outside (partly signifying its hybrid electric powerplant), and stuffed with modern technology on the inside. The purpose: to drum up and gauge interest in a long-planned mobile public-access broadband initiative.\nWhat\u2019s it got that might get passengers intrigued by on-the-go Internet services? For starters, a number of touch-screen maps on the inside walls, allowing riders to, among other things, determine whether they are in fact on the appropriate line, so as not to waste excessive time traveling aimlessly. (Reversely, riders could utilize the networked map screens to purposely take added joy in going about the 10-Townsend route - which is what Connected Bus is presently slated to traverse when it first embarks next Monday on its virgin cruise - purely for pleasure.)\nAlso, there\u2019s this convenient little invention called Wi-Fi that the cabin will provide city residents and visitors alike.\nSee, now nobody in San Fran - at least those riding Connected Bus - can excuse themselves any longer to purchase dirty tree-killing newspapers for their journeys to and from work. All will have to force themselves to log on with their laptops and smartphones to read the morning, noon, and evening headlines. Or, you know, watch YouTube. Or follow friends on Facebook. It\u2019s all the same to us, really. (Of course, we definitely suggest spending your commute following Mashable. But that\u2019s a given, right?)\nWill there be more vehicles - and perhaps a multitude of superawesome hotspots popping up around the Bay Area? More likely than not, we think. (Outfitting a single bus with all abovementioned gadgetry costs roughly $10,000.) Can\u2019t imagine this effort by Muni and Cisco will lag much longer. Who can resist the allure of the green bus? Such a gorgeous, gizmo-friendly green bus it is.\nIf you\u2019re anywhere around 10-Townsend route next week, be sure to get yourself a ride on this thing. Tell us what you think. Bug reports are welcome. And take some flash Mash polls, why don\u2019t you. Talk us up. We thank you kindly in advance."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/02/21/muni-wifi/>