California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology

This project is to assist the Capitol Corridor Joint Power Authority (CCIPA) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) assemble a decision framework for selecting wireless Internet access on behalf of customers riding the three California State sponsored Intercity Rail Services. To accomplish this objective, we researched the state of worldwide deployment of service based on the wireless technologies, such as wireless fidelity (WiFi) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), conducted a survey of the WiFi service at San Francisco Airport, and examined the historical ridership data on train routes of the Intercity Rail service. In addition, we conducted a survey on the trains offering trial Internet access based on low bandwidth communication infrastructure. The results are used with other data to develop business model options.

To support the business mode options, the project technical team researched the wireless technology landscape, examined the technology trends and options, and the specific characteristics of the operating environment of the target rail service, researched the emerging technology for enabling the mobile connectivity, and researched the vulnerability and viable security technologies.

The business model options and the technical guidelines can be used to formulate a performance specification for a high-bandwidth trackside infrastructure to connect end user devices to Internet. The specification, in turn, can be used for writing a Request for Quotation (RFQ) to solicit qualified service providers for the Internet service on trains.