Paying for wireless hot spots that will likely not see much use from the end users is a silly tack. Myopic, even. Lots of companies throw up wifi hotspots that are free of charge, or supported by some advertisement. Why would NJT partner up with Cablevision on this? I suppose they are getting a cut of the action. I wish we would get WiFi in the PATH stations, though.

Eleven NJ Transit stations to get Wi-Fi by middle of January

Mike Frassinelli/The Star-Ledger

Eleven major NJ Transit terminals ? including Newark Penn Station, Hoboken, Trenton and Secaucus ? are on track to get wireless internet access by the middle of next month.

The amenity is one of the most frequent demands by NJ Transit customers.

The other stations where commuters will be able to surf the web and send and receive email are Metropark, New Brunswick, Summit, Rahway, Newark Broad Street, Meadowlands and Montclair State University.

Customers of Cablevision Optimum, which has 80,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area and is implementing and maintaining the service, will be able to use the Wi-Fi for free.

Non-Cablevision customers would pay a fee, similar to wireless internet access at an airport.

Work is expected to be complete on the 11 train stations by the end of the month, Cablevision spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew confirmed today, with a testing period before it goes online.

The service ? provided through a trackside wireless network NJ Transit has called the first of its kind in the U.S. ? is eventually expected to branch out to more than 20 other stations and the trains themselves.

?It?s going along well,? NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein said today after the statewide transportation agency?s monthly board meeting. ?Cablevision hasn?t run into any obstacles.?