Driving/traffic in and around Boston

Rec%26#39;d advice from earlier post about renting a car vs bus/taxi to travel from Boston to Rockland for wedding. Having never been to Boston before I%26#39;m wondering how easy it will be and how much time I%26#39;ll need if driving. We%26#39;ll be 3 adults staying at John Jeffries House for 4 days prior. Plan to pick up car near train station on Friday morning and head to Rockland. I%26#39;d like to go on to Plimoth Plantation for the afternoon. Distance doesn%26#39;t look too far. On Monday morning I want to go back near Boston train station to return car. I take train to NYC, other two take train to Airport. I%26#39;m wondering how easy Boston is to get in and out of, traffic times etc.

Driving/traffic in and around Boston

It is pretty easy getting on 93 south from either train station. 93 south to 3 south.. probably to route 228 south..for Rockland.

To get to Plymouth you back track to 3 south.

I would stay in Plymouth until at least 7:00 p.m. The traffic going into the city can be brutal until 8:00 p.m. on the expressway...93 north.

Driving/traffic in and around Boston

Thanks Eileen. I%26#39;m also wondering about morning commute leaving Rockland on MOnday morning and returning the car. I%26#39;m trying to decide what time to book train to NYC.

Hi Lindee:

So you want to return the car and hop right on the Amtrak to NY?

Are you staying with friends in Rockland? If so you could try to return the rental somewhere in the area the evening before. The commuter line leaves from Weymouth and goes right into South Station where you can get Amtrak. Weymouth is close to Rockland.

The drive to Boston during the week can be brutal. There is a HOV lane you can take if you have another person with you. Then once in Boston there is another HOV lane to South Station.

The other option is driving to The 128 train Station in Westwood. I am sure you can leave the rental here but you would have to work this out.

The commute to 128 is better than South Station. There is a place to get coffee and a paper.

www.mbta.com

The local traffic station is 1030 a.m. and gives report every 10 minutes on the 3%26#39;s.

We%26#39;ll be at a Rockland Hotel and probably won%26#39;t really need a car since others will have driven if we really need something the hotel doesn%26#39;t have. I was just trying to avoid cost of taxi%26#39;s to and from Boston. If we can get the train to Weymouth maybe I%26#39;ll check the cost of Taxi%26#39;s from there to/from Rockland and see how that compares to car rental. Thanks so much for all the practical advice..just what I was hoping for.

The train from Weymouth is only a few years old. It is called The Green Bush Line. It will be a better ride than a taxi. Anyone who lives in that area will be able to get you to it.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I have a similar question if you would be so helpful. I am planning in staying a couple of days in Boston, leaving on a Monday heading east on I90 as we have a long trip to Torronto. I don%26#39;t have a hotel arranged yet so this is a general question about traffic levels. Basically with such a long trip I would like to start reasonably early but could someone tell me the traffic conditions getting out of the city on a Monday morning. Would I be ok leaving around 9am or will this defeat the purpose with getting stuck in heavy traffic.

Appreciate any local input and looking forwards to my first trip to Boston.

Leaving at 9 AM, you should not encounter any major traffic problems - barring any unexpected accident, of course. Besides, going west would be against rush hour flow anyway.

Oops. Just realized you said you were heading east. I assume that was just a typo and you know you would be heading west for Toronto. It%26#39;s about a 10 hour drive.

Thanks Alan, yeah a typo, Silly me. Of course Torronto is to the west. A 10 hour drive to the east might result in us drowning :-)

Thanks for the local traffic info. I kinda thought that we would be ok going out of the city but its nice to be sure. Now all I have to figure out is where to park the car but I read that its ok to park overnight at the T stations (Alewife??) fairly cheaply. I%26#39;ll be coming Saturday afternoon and leaving Monday morning so I%26#39;m guessing they will not be full over the weekend unless you know places that have cheaper parking over the weekend in town of course. Mind you don%26#39;t know where we are staying at the mo but I guess fairly central. Thanks again

Alewife Station is about as cheap as you can get. And space will not be a problem over the weekend.