San Francisco Pioneers Smart Parking Spots

Meet the 'diverging diamond' approach, which is catching on

(NEWSER) - Traffic engineers hate left turns because they slow everybody down and are dangerous to boot. Solutions such as dedicated lanes or routing traffic over intersections don't truly solve the problems. What to do? Slate takes a look at an emerging idea called the "diverging diamond interchange," which eliminates left turns altogether. The first one in the US went up in 2009 in Springfield, Missouri, and others are now in the works. More»

But, city officials warn, you should pull over before using it

(NEWSER) - In busy San Francisco, city officials estimate that drivers looking for a parking spot account for 30% of all downtown congestion. Enter the iPhone: A new app could solve the parking problem. The city introduced SFpark last month, aiming to show drivers the areas that have open spots. Wireless sensors in thousands of metered parking spots and spaces in city garages detect within seconds when a spot opens up, then make that information available on the app within a minute, the New York Times reports. More»

How does your 'highway to hell' rank?

(NEWSER) - We all know LA has a traffic problem, but Honolulu? It's No. 2 in the nation, finds the Daily Beast , which crunched the numbers to rank America's 75 worst commutes. Some of the highlights:

• No. 3, Capital Beltway, Washington, DC: This slow moving route totals an average of 194 hours of congestion per week. "It's a rough road," says a local transportation reporter.

Ringling Bros. circus animal apprehended on congested highway

(NEWSER) - An escaped Ringling Brothers circus zebra led police on a mile-long high-speed chase yesterday in Atlanta, interfering with traffic on the city’s already congested Interstate. The episode lasted about 40 minutes, the AP reports. “All of a sudden a freaking zebra comes running down the street like a car,” a bystander recalls. “Five or six police cars were in hot pursuit.” The police apprehended the rogue animal, who was unharmed but for some minor cuts. More»

Company may have to revamp how it bills customers

(NEWSER) - AT&T says it's working on ways to keep some iPhone customers from hogging everybody else's bandwidth. It will unveil a series of "incentives" early next year, which could include charging customers based on how much data they use rather than offering an "unlimited" plan, reports the Wall Street Journal . "We're aware of the issue," said a company official, who added that the majority of iPhone customers would not be affected. More»