It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town

The hardreading staff has long held that the traffic lights in Boston must have been timed by Joe Cocker.

Unlike a real city such as New York – where one can routinely drive up, say, Madison Avenue for 10, 20, 30 blocks without stopping – making two consecutive lights in this town qualifies as a Dear Diary day.

The Boston Herald certainly gets that, as today’s front page attests.

Driving drivers nuts graf in the piece by Sean Philip Cotter and Meghan Ottolini:

“You have three lights in 50 yards, and the middle one will be green and the other two won’t. Then the opposite. No one’s going anywhere,” Uber driver Felipe Rios told the Herald last week, voicing a common gripe about constant stops and starts that he and other drivers see as unnecessary.

The gridlock grid extends from most of Mass. Ave to stretches of road on both sides of the Greenway to roads around TD Garden and Congress Street, according to this handy chart.

Sadly, unsticking those points doesn’t seem to be a top priority for city officials.

A recent national study found Boston has the worst congestion in the country, worse than even Los Angeles. But [City transportation chief Gina] Fiandaca said making traffic in Boston move faster isn’t her top concern.

“Our pedestrian safety programs are our No. 1 priority,” Fiandaca said, citing concerns that synced lights lead to speeding and put pedestrians and cyclists in danger.

It’s worth checking out the whole report, including this video and even some whining by Uber drivers.

If you’re in your car, of course, only at red lights.