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April 21, 2006

METRO OFFERS FREE ‘WI-FI’ ON I-71 EXPRESS BUS ROUTE
Customers can surf the ‘net while cruising down the highway

CINCINNATI -- Life in the fast lane will have a whole new meaning on I-71 next week.

Metro will offer FREE wireless internet service on selected Rt. 71X Kings Island Express buses for one week, beginning Monday, April 24.

Customers with laptops and other wireless enabled devices who ride the morning trips leaving the Paramount’s Kings Island park & ride at 6:16 a.m. and 7:46 a.m. will be able to access the internet free while en route to downtown Cincinnati. In the afternoon, customers leaving downtown on the 4:20 p.m. bus will have free Wi-Fi service.

This Metro pilot project is testing mobile Wi-Fi technology (designed and managed by HarborLink Network) on the two Project Lily Pad buses. Several routes will be tested over the next few months. Metro is one of the first transit systems in the country to experiment with mobile Wi-Fi.

In addition to the Wi-Fi buses, Metro is partnering with Project Lily Pad and Time-Warner Business Class to offer free wireless internet service at Cincinnati Museum Center and Cincinnati Art Museum, both of which are on
Metro ’s Rt. 1 Museum Center-Mt. Adams-Zoo.

The Metro partnership also includes Lily Pad hot spots at Metro’s two newest transit facilities, Government Square and the Anderson Lake park & ride, both under construction.

Unlike some Wi-Fi services, Lily Pad sites are free for everyone, thanks to the completely volunteer-driven Project Lily Pad initiative to install free wireless internet access in public spots throughout greater Cincinnati.

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