RIGA, Latvia – At first glance, Hansa Buss' new coach seems like any ordinary bus – it's got big, not-yet-sticky rubber steps leading inside to row after row of seats.
Curiously, some of the seats have electrical outlets mounted in the sidewalls of the bus. Farther down the aisle, in the midsection of the bus, is a kitchenette, complete with an espresso machine, a microwave and a small pantry area. Way in the back, there's even two wall-mounted flat-screen televisions.
But the real coup de grace is the fact that the entire bus has Wi-Fi during the entire five-hour journey between Tallinn, Estonia, to Riga, Latvia. That makes this rig likely the first international cross-border Wi-Fi-enabled bus line. Better still, the cost of connecting to the internet is included in the $40 one-way ticket.
Hansa Buss launched this line on March 1, at a price double that of its main competitor, Eurolines, which makes the same run for half the price. But that ride is more typically cramped and there's no net access.
Taivo Puuorg, a board member of the Estonian company, says Hansa isn't competing with buses, though. Instead, Hansa wants the airline market.
In fact, the new Tallinn-Riga line is inspired by the business class on airplanes, and it's aiming to upgrade bus travel in the Baltics to appeal to passengers who would otherwise drive themselves or fly. He hopes that although Hansa Buss had to extract half of its regular seats on the same model coach to make room for the tables and extra amenities, that it will make more money due to the higher fare.
Marco Kukk, a 21-year-old at Tallinn University, who carries a RAZR and an iPod, and travels Eurolines to Riga, says he would gladly pay twice as much to have net access while on the road.
"Bus trips are really annoying," he says. "Some internet would be really useful – I [could] do my work or my schoolwork on the bus."
Puuorg too, envisions future customers getting work done on the new bus, and even making PowerPoint presentations on those flat-screen televisions, all while hurtling down Estonian and Latvian highways.
In order to make this bus line a reality, Puuorg consulted with Veljo Haamer, a Wi-Fi pioneer in Estonia who has had a hand in the nearly 1,100 hotspots (most of which are free and include every gas station) across the country.
This past summer, Haamer traveled to California in part to check out the Wi-Fi that is onboard the Altamont Commuter Express train that makes a thrice-daily run between Stockton, California and San Jose, California.
Haamer says that for his next trick he'll begin working to bring Wi-Fi to the six-hour http://shaan.typepad.com/shaanou/2007/01/gorail_goes_tal.html" train trip between Tallinn and St. Petersburg, and eventually also to the sea ferries that connect the Estonian capital with Helsinki, Finland.
"You just need to connect passengers to the internet," Hammer says. "Or those passengers [will] choose another firm.
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