The Time Saving Big Dig

A trip through the tunnels might share some of the 48 seconds daily time savings. Back in February we took a look at the numbers. We came up with something in the neighborhood of $168,000, a commenter added in some other factors and found $182,000, in annual productivity savings. This based on the Turnpike Authorities time calculations which had a trip through the tunnel system clocked at 2:48, down from the 19:30 it took travelers in the elevated central artery system. The Census Bureau just released figures that show from the year 2000 to their latest survey of drive times in 2005 showing Boston metro commuters have the 11th longest commute, coming in at 28.6 minutes. The new numbers reflect pre-July traffic levels, so the new detours following the Big Dig ceiling collapse aren't taken into account. Add those in and we might squeak into the top ten. Commute times don't rely exclusively on cars. Public transit, walking, and cycling are all included in the statistics. If there was some good fix for the B-Line travel time the city's average would surely drop.

Flickr user daviddesign shows us an image of how wicked fast the trip through the Big Dig has become. Er, um, at least it what happens with a slow shutter speed in low light.