MANILA, Philippines – San Francisco residents, local commuters, and tourists can now expect free WiFi along Market Street, one of the main thoroughfares and transport arteries of the city.

SFGate.com reports that, in addition to an initiative to bring free WiFi to San Francisco’s public parks, wireless connectivity will be available along a 3-mile (4.82 kilometer) stretch of Market Street.

The project cost the city approximately US$500,000 after Ruckus Wireless donated hardware and Layer42 Networks gave 1 gigabit of Internet access service for the network to reach the public Internet.

Of the initiative, Mayor Ed Lee said, “A quarter of a million people traverse Market Street every day, from all walks of life. Now they can access information, find out when their next bus is coming, or peruse local job listings, all for free.”

The network is meant to benefit those in low-income situations and international visitors and can be expanded upon as it is owned by the city.

More information on accessing the public WiFi signal can be found on the San Francisco government page for the initiative. – Rappler.com