T riders may no longer have to rush to finish their cellular phone conversations before their train heads below ground.
The MBTA is exploring measures that would make it possible for commuters to use their phones, pagers and wireless Internet in MBTA tunnels.
“We hope to make a move on this by this summer,” said MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera.
According to Rivera, the MBTA will provide a 25-year contract lease to be bid on by telecommunications companies. The winning bidder will install wires underground and equip the tunnels with network cellular wireless antennas.
“The company we would contract with would pay millions of dollars and … we wouldn’t spend a penny,” Rivera said. “We would reap a significant amount of money from revenues to maintain infrastructure for current riders and keep fares down.”
She said enabling cellular phone use serves an important purpose.
“If you just look around you, people do business with cell phones. … Around the country people like to have phones for emergencies — they depend on their cell phones. Some don’t even have a phone at home. It’s a common complaint and there is a convenience factor,” Rivera said.
However, according to Khalida Smalls, coordinator for the T Riders Union, there are emergency intercoms on every car of every train and in every station.
One Boston University student said outfitting the tunnels for cellular phone use is unnecessary.
“It wouldn’t matter because most people don’t stay on the T that long anyway,” said Helen Tran, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It’s kind of annoying because people would hear your most personal conversations on the T.”
“I’m sure there are some skeptics,” Rivera said, adding that “many people don’t want to hear others doing business. But it is convenient for our riders.
“Having access means not losing an interview, doing business transactions, alerting family members they are late — a lot of things.”
Smalls said there are other issues the MBTA must deal with first.
“The MBTA has a lot of pressing problems,” Smalls said. “A number of their buses are extremely old. … The older they are, the more maintenance they need and the more they pollute the air. Boston has six times the highest asthma rate in the state. We believe diesel fuel has a lot to do with it and the T is the largest public vehicle.”
Two hundred more natural buses still need to be purchased, Smalls said. She also said there is no infrastructure for the buses. There are 8,000 bus stops and only 300 shelters.
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