In a very cool development, it seems that Sacramento-based Wi-Fi Rail is in talks with the Bay Area’s light rail system, BART, to provide Wi-Fi access to commuters. For this blogger, who often writes while riding BART twice a day for an hour at a stretch, that would be a dream come true.

In an effort to make mass transit commuting more alluring, cities are stepping up to the service plate. In many places, that means more expanded service like more frequent or timely trains or buses, but in the Bay Area, it means Internet access. The service, free to BART, would be paid for by user subsciption fees or advertising.

Many cities in the Bay Area offer free wireless internet via a similar scheme of private-public partnership. By all indicators, the trend is increasing and Internet providing companies report being swamped by demand. In most cases, private companies front the access, equipment and service and make money from advertising or nominal fees. Ideally, government subsidies are also involved. Without, municipal wireless providers can go belly up, like Metrofi, who plans to end service to many West Coast cities mid June in less than two months.

As free wifi leaves the private domain and becomes more of a public good, new legal possibilities emerge regarding a public ‘right to internet’. For now however, riders should not hold their breathe; it may take two years before full buildout.

Get the whole story at PCWorld.

Photo by SF Travel.