Boston Using IBM Engineers To Solve Traffic Problems

vu1986 writes "Boston won the opportunity to pick the brains of six IBM engineers — including one from Tokyo — who flew in to check out its traffic situation and figure out a way to consolidate, analyze and use existing traffic data feeds as well as new data sources including (of course) Twitter feeds, to ease the city's notorious traffic jams."

Re:Tweaks to the cultural problem

[PolygamousRanchKid]

The problem with public transportation, is that the rich folks think that's how the poor folks ride to work. Rich folks ride to work in a big 'ole SUV, because if they use public transportation, they won't feel rich anymore.

So all you need to do, is to introduce 1st and 2nd class compartments in public transportation. That way, rich folks can still feel rich by traveling 1st class, and the poor folks can feel better about themselves, because they ride in the same transportation as the rich folks.

Obviously, a win-win.

Oh, and maybe free in-transit lap dances in the 1st class would make it even more attractive.

Don't need an IBM engineer

[xaoslaad]

I had to drive into Boston for a few days last week. 1:45 minutes to get into the city the two days I drove myself. Over two hours when I took the train, because first I had to get to the subway. Then I had to wait for the first train, which kept stopping, so it was a long and delayed ride. Then I got to the the Green line and had to wait for another train. Eventually I got where I was going. When sitting in my car is more comfortable and faster, there is little incentive to take the train. Make public transportation faster and more reliable and maybe I'll be more inclined to take...

Furthermore, on both days that I drove 15 minutes of my ride was getting through a short section of MA Ave, where the lights were perhaps 10's of yards apart. First light turns green. But the light ahead is red, so no one moves. Green light turns red, red light turns green. Next time the light turns green I'm able to move up just enough to get through the intersection and wait at the next red light... I don't know, maybe like get the lights back in sync now and again so traffic can actually flow smoothly?

Re:2 major ways to ease traffic jam

[mjwx]

Essentially there are only 2 ways to ease traffic jams

1. Widen existing roadways and build more new thoroughfares to accommodate the vehicles

or

2. Cut down on the number of vehicles that travel on the road

Don't need IBM engineers to figure that out

Yes, but IBM engineers can make driving so user unfriendly and convoluted that fewer people will want to drive, thus achieving solution number 2.