UPDATE: A representative from the Boston Department of Transportation told BostInno that a total of six signs, at $5,800 apiece, will be installed in the Innovation District and Longwood Medical Area in November and December of this year. Happy driving!
The only thing worse than sitting in traffic is not knowing exactly how long you’ll be stuck bumper-to-bumper. Any Bostonian who has attempted to navigate the narrow, crooked labyrinth we know as the Hub’s roadways can attest to that fact. Get out of here with your traversable gridded streets, it’s a few hundred years late for us here.
Storrow Drive during rush hour? Woof. The Expressway between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.? See you never. All Traffic Solutions, though, could have just what Boston needs to temper that boiling road rage of yours.
Coming to a congested roundabout near you, All Traffic Solutions — based out of State College, PA — will be installing cloud-based “Time to Destination” message signs, aptly named DriveTimes, that, using TomTom traffic data, lets drivers know how long it’ll take them to reach their respective destination from where they’re sitting in traffic.
According to a press release, “DriveTimes will provide the City of Boston with an effective traffic management solution in the near future and provide the flexibility needed to protect their investment long-term.”
Amen to that.
Look for these godsend signs to be placed in areas where the most discouraging gridlocks often generate such as hotels, convention centers, airports or sports and cultural attractions; i.e. downtown Boston, the Innovation District, East Boston and the Fenway area — all truly miserable traffic hotspots in dire need of a cleanse.
We reached out to the City of Boston Transportation Department to get some kind of idea of where exactly the signs will be installed, how many there will be, how much money they’ll cost the city, and when we can expect to see them crop up, but they have yet to respond.
It’s expected that All Traffic Solutions will be rolling out their new therapeutic in the very near future. Keep on the look out next time you’re trapped in stop-and-go, for you might not be stuck there as long as you think.
