In a recent announcement, Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed it is conducting a trial of free Wi-Fi for passengers riding around in the city buses.

According to the TfL announcement, Wi-Fi vendor Bluepod media is trialling free Wi-Fi on two London bus routes. The free Wi-Fi trial is being carried out as part of a Transport for London test scheme prior to a potential rollout of the free Wi-Fi service for London bus passengers across all routes.

The trial implies that two bus routes - the number 12 bus from Dulwich to Oxford Circus; and RV1 between Covent Garden and Tower Hill - will both offer a free Wi-Fi connection to passengers. The trial marks the new technology component of the 'Year of the Bus.'

With the London buses ferrying approximately 6 million passengers every day, TfL has said that the eventual rollout of free Wi-Fi across all the bus routes of the city will be possible if it can find sponsors for funding the Wi-Fi connection on nearly 7,500 buses.

Since the trial of free Wi-Fi on two London bus routes is being billed as part of the 'Year of the Bus' celebrations, Simon Reed - TfL's Head of Technical Services Group - said: "Innovation is a key theme of the Year of the Bus... These trials will establish whether this technology provides genuine benefits to people on the move."