We live in hyper-connected cities:
how many offer Internet access in the subway?

We surveyed the world's largest metropolitan underground systems to find out their level of internet connectivity. The metro survey represents:
48 cities, 4803 stations and 28.7 billion annual passengers.

Here are some of the insights that our study captured.

Which are the most connected regions?

Whether we look at connectivity in stations or on trains, the Middle East is by far the most connected region in the world, followed by Asia.

Fly over the world to compare results.

Combined
Trains
Stations

Which regions are leading the way in underground connectivity?

The high level of coverage in the Middle East and Asia reflects their more recent construction, compared to Europe or North America, where the systems were predominantly built before 1980, and some even before World War II.

Explore the timeline.

Asia-PacificEurasiaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastNorth America19972001200220032004200520072008200920102011201220132014
North America

What type of connectivity do different metro systems provide?

In 2014, 3G and 4G is established everywhere except Eurasia, where WiFi connectivity is predominant. European and Asian cities upgraded their systems from older technologies, while more recent networks integrated the latest technologies from the outset.

Compare your region with the rest of the world.

Combined
Trains
Stations
Exit 1
Final Stop
Exit 2

Choose an exit

And click on it!

Exit 1 The future of trains

Do metro operators plan to expand connectivity in their existing tunnels in the coming 1-3 years?

39% say yes

23% say no

39% are uncertain

There is still significant uncertainty about the suitability and feasibility of fully digital metros. Is this good news? Are we missing opportunities for more enjoyable rides?

Exit 2 The future of stations

Do metro operators plan to expand connectivity in their existing stations in the coming 1-3 years?

68% say yes
5% say no
27% are uncertain
In the future, most new metro stations will be designed from scratch as “digital stations”. What does this mean for the future of cities? Are connected stations desirable?

About

This research is based on a questionnaire and follow-up interview conducted by UITP between March 7 and May 12, 2014, among 48 metro systems from 28 countries. The survey results cover 32% of all metro networks in the world, including the largest systems in terms of patronage (62% covered), line length (49%) and total number of stations (53%), therefore reflecting the reality of over half of the world’s metro sector. The full report and an infographic based on the study are available for download.

Questions can be addressed to contact@newcitiesfoundation.org.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.