(17 Mar 2015, 4:49 pm)aureolin wrote If it's anything like our procurement, I'd guess a number of options would have been presented to the Executive. One of course would have included what's now becoming the standard onboard features - i.e.. WiFi, Plug Sockets, and NSAs. That'll then most likely have to be justified against the type of service the buses are being used on, but lets be honest, it's nothing more than a shuttle service between one Interchange and another. People aren't going to be on the bus long enough to make use of such features. I'd understand (and agree) with the gripe if this were the case for the 8.
Spot on!
Icomera has undertaken market research and they suggested that most customers will not use free Wi-Fi available on-board if travelling for 10 minutes or less, as is the case with the X66.
I personally think that the Streetlites will be on the X66 for at least seven years, by which time they should receive a mid-life refurbishment, and this is when the vehicles would be retrofitted with power sockets and Next Stop Announcements. The Wi-Fi can be retrofitted at any point we like without incurring too great a cost, but I'd argue that there are other buses/services out there that would benefit from free Wi-Fi before the X66.