Going underground just got a little less scary; as of today, the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority is rolling out Wi-Fi and cell service to 30 stations across the city.
Previously, Wi-Fi was available at a handful of stations on the L and C/E lines, but starting today, it can be found at locations like Times Square, Columbus Circle and other stops on the West Side from 18th to 96th street in the from of free, corporate-sponsored Boingo hotspots. For those who want to check some texts as well, there will also be subterranean cell service, though for the moment that’s limited to those with AT&T or T-Mobile, but Verizon and Sprint are on the way.
And this is only the beginning. In phase two of the project, Wi-Fi and service will come to Queens and Midtown by 2014 with the Bronx and the East Side to follow. By 2016, the MTA says all stations will be hooked up. And if the service at the subway station I am posting this from is any indication, it looks like it’ll work just fine, if not quite amazingly. Bring on the future.
Here’s a list of all the stations (some are repeated if different lines have different platforms):
23 Street – 8 Avenue: CE Lines
14 Street – 8 Avenue: ACE Lines
14 Street – 7 Avenue: 123 Lines
14 Street – 6 Avenue: FM Lines
14 Street – 8 Avenue: L Line
14 Street – 6 Avenue: L Line
96 Street: BC Lines
86 Street: BC Lines
28 Street: 1 Line
18 Street: 1 Line
81 Street-Museum of Natural History: BC Lines
72 Street: BC Lines
79 Street: 1 Line
23 Street: 1 Line
96 Street: 123 Lines
66 Street-Lincoln Center: 1 Line
72 Street: 123 Lines
57 Street: F Line
47-50 Streets-Rockefeller Center: BDFM Lines
57 Street-7 Avenue: NQR Lines
28 Street: NR Lines
50 Street: 1 Line
50 Street: CE Lines
23 Street: NR Lines
49 Street: NR Lines
5 Avenue-53 Street: EM Lines
59 Street-Columbus Circle: 1 Line
59 St-Columbus Circle: ABCD Lines
7 Avenue: BDE Lines
Times Square-42 Street: 123 Lines
Times Square-42 Street: NQR Lines
Times Square-42 Street: 7 Line
Times Square-42 Street: ACE Lines
Times Square-42 Street: S Line
5 Ave.-59 Street: NR Lines
86 Street: 1 Line
