they do , do a good job clearing the snow quickly off the main roads and exits in eastern MA
The major storms (which occur every 10 years or so)…they have a very hard time clearing the roads in Boston. They have to get back-loaders and dump trucks to haul the snow out. No place for the plow to push it.
No, the reverse commute doesn’t address the parking problem. If you get back home to Cambridge too late all the parking spots are already taken. (I’m assuming you don’t have off-street parking because most Cambridge residences don’t).
Have you considered a Nissan Leaf? If you can charge the battery at work or at home each night, the Leaf might work for you. If you want to use the car for excursions on the weekend, you want a different car. The Prius c offers the best gas mileage for a car that uses gasoline.
The Smart is a European car, so I can excuse the premium. Their gas grades are higher octane than ours, with our premium being about like their regular. They also measure it differently, so you can’t just compare the numbers. For a really high-volume car sold in large numbers worldwide it might pay to engineer a version for ‘regular’ gas, but the Smart sells in small numbers. Still, not pleasant when you have to fill it up.
I agree that nutty Boston driving stems from the poorly engineered roads. Exits go off left or right without enough advance warning, curves on freeways are too sharp and visibility is poor, and the surface streets in central Boston wind all over the place. My brother has lived in the same place near Fenway Park for fifteen years, but I can still only find it if I’m coming west on Storrow. From any other direction I can often see his building off across the Fens, but can find no way across. My blood pressure drops whenever I leave Massachusetts. The surrounding states have properly engineered, better maintained roads with adequate signage. Nice…