High gas prices got you thinking about commuting on the bus but the long trip has you nervous?

You could always get some work done with the free Wi-Fi connection while cruising down Interstate 15. Try that in a car and even if you manage to stay on the road, you still face the likelihood of getting pulled over.

The Utah Transit Authority recently launched a world-class Internet system on its FrontRunner commuter rail between Ogden and Salt Lake City. And while Utah Valley will have to wait until 2012 for a similar system, the 26 buses that travel in and out of the county also have Wi-Fi, albeit not as fancy.

"I know people who wouldn't ride the bus unless they had it," said Kyle Brimley, UTA's technology deployment project manager.

Here's how it works:

If you're in one of the posh FrontRunner rail cars, your Internet connection is a respectable 5 megabits per second. (Cable and DSL are typically 6-8 megabits.) The speed was achieved by laying fiber-optic cables under the tracks and connecting them to 28 towers that transmit the signal wirelessly.

When you attempt an internet connection via laptop (or Wi-Fi-equipped cellphone) a user agreement pops up. A yes click sends you on your way. There have been a few hiccups because of the speed required to put the system together, Brimley said. For instance, a few places along the line aren't covered by the system. Instead, a slower cell-based network covers the gap until the Wi-Fi system is back in range.

"We should have even a better system going south because we can put the poles where they should be," he said.

The average number of riders connecting to the Wi-Fi service is more than 1,000 per day, or approximately one in nine passengers, according to UTA numbers.

The bus system relies entirely on cellphone broadband cards, which means the overall speed is going to be slower. But given that fewer people ride a single bus than an entire train, the impact should be about the same. Brimley estimates that five to 10 people on each bus use the connection during a trip.

UTA hears about it when the system goes down.

"You're talking technology, so you do have some bumps in the road," Brimley says.

Commuters only

The wireless connections won't be found on TRAX or city buses anytime soon. UTA officials looked at the average trip length and decided there wasn't enough time for someone to get much benefit.

"It doesn't really justify the cost," said spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware.

By the numbers

Around $3,500 -- Cost to install per Express bus

$50 -- Monthly cost to UTA per bus

10 percent -- The share of riders using a UTA Internet connection