In preparation for Wave’s deployment to the Edmonton International Airport this month, I needed to do some research on the WiFi there before we launch.

To get there, I decided to take advantage of a new ETS-EIA transit partnership that runs a city bus between Century Park and EIA about every hour. The aptly named Route 747 is equipped with luggage racks (shown here), and costs $5 each way. Since that is about the cost of parking at the airport for an hour, I figured this would be a reasonable alternative for my research excursion.

It was extremely convenient, taking about 18 minutes each way by my account. I would definitely consider using it for future flights. There’s no need to worry about road conditions or traffic, you just get on and surf the web and before you know it you are at the airport! No more airport parking shuttles, or parkade difficulties. Drop off and pickup are both on the arrivals lower level, so you’ll need to take the escalator up if you’re heading out, but that isn’t too big of a deal.

As an added bonus, the airport bus also includes free WiFi. It appears to be provided be Rogers Wireless. Not terribly quick, but certainly handy!