This is a great idea for straight roads but would never work for the Capital Beltway or the Baltimore Beltway. These roads are so unpredictable that this technology wouldn't work. That said, I love the idea for US-29, I-270, I-70, US-50 (to the beach!), and other straight roads. Let's hope that it works though, or drivers will likely get more frustrated when they've been sitting in front of a sign that says "30 minute delays" for 2 hours. Good thinking but will take time to work out kinks.

They have this in San Antonio, and it works really well.

I saw these signs Friday while driving from Frederick to Baltimore. They were pretty accurate. Of course, it wasn't "rush hour" yet, either. They had all indicated that had been update within a few minutes of my passing by them. If it works, it can be a helpful system.

"may lead to less rear-end crashes"

When to use less and when to use fewer? There's an easy way to remember. If you can't count it, use less. If you can count it, use fewer.
• Cain has less love in his heart than anyone else I know.
• Cain gives fewer hugs than anyone else I know.
You can't count love, but you can count hugs.

I take 29N to 70E to 695. When I get onto 70E, there is such a sign advising me of the time to get to 695, but this sign is pointless, since by that point, there are no more exits from 70; short of making an illegal U-turn onto 70W, no matter what the traffic or travel time, there is no choice but to follow 70 to 695 (or the Park & Ride).

"If you can't count it, use less. If you can count it, use fewer."

Cash? You can give me fewer cash.

XM gives estimated travel times for some roads on the traffic channels, although the information is not available for all of the major roads in the DC area (I-395 being the notable exception from my point of view). I-95 from Triangle to the Beltway is routinely mentioned with travel times of over an hour in the morning. I'd like to know how accurate it is.

What is unclear to me from Mr. Ginsberg's story is whether these signs will list travel time only for the road on which they're posted, or whether alternate routes will be listed as well. That's no small matter--while I-95 might be slow, for example, if US-1 is also slow then there might be no advantage in trying the alternate route.

I-15 has these signs in Salt Lake City. They are really nice and seem to work well during heavy congestion or accidents.

Rich, they only show travel times for the road they're on. This does seem like a problem, but I wonder if the solution--sending a bunch of drivers to the same secondary road--would be self-defeating.

Why wouldn't it work on the beltway or other curved roads? Don't they do it on the morning traffic reports on TV already. The downside to the overhead signs is that they cause additional back-ups. There's usually a back-up on I-95 where they have signs talking about congestion at the tunnel 8 miles away.

To the would-be copy editors: True, "less" is for the uncountable items, "fewer" for the countable items, but it's a blog. Try not to hijack it. But since you have: "Cash" is not a countable item. Dollars, coins, euros, notes - those are countable items. Cash is not.

They wouldn't work on curved roads (loops) like the Beltway because those roads are so unpredictable. There are so many curves going between the American Legion bridge and Georgia Avenue on the beltway that it is always backed up. How do you predict times for that backup? You can't.

They don't predict backup times on the radio: they simply tell you there is a backup. And if they do have a backup time, it is because somebody called in and said "it took me 45 minutes to get from St. Barnabas Road to the Wilson Bridge." That's what you hear on the radio, completely different from what this new technology would provide. (Unless this new technology rests on people calling in to the sign controllers, but I doubt that.)

In response to "silver spring" from 8:50 this morning, apparently there is something more sophisticated out there than what you describe. I'm not familiar with all the details, but I know that there is a system called TrafficPulse that uses some kind of digital sensors along roads to measure actual travel speeds of traffic and then to calculate travel times based on the prevailing speeds.

This service exists for some roads in the DC area, as I noted in my earlier post, because XM uses them. You can find out more at http://www.traffic.com. I assume that Maryland plans to use something similar on its new signs. It's not a perfect system, of course, but then, neither are the traditional reports on local radio stations.

Why isn't Virginia getting on the bandwagon with this technology? It would sure help, especially on I-66! Today there were 13 mile back ups (according to Sky Fox). I would of loved to see a sign telling me how long I would sit on my clutch in that mess.

They have it in Atlanta. Works pretty well. If nothing else it was pretty consistent, so while ten minutes might be closer to seven I knew what the road was looking like compared to an estimated wait time of twenty minutes, etc.

The TrafficPulse sensors are in place on I-66. If you subscribe to XM, tune to Channel 214 to hear the local report. Otherwise, the web page I linked earlier can give you info, although that doesn't help much when you're in the car.

Rating today, 175 out of 193. I commute via Metro, and from my house I have three options to get to Metro. The way I went today, because there was no rain in the forecast, was to take the bus to Van Dorn Blue Line, transfer to the Yellow Line at King Street, then to L'Enfant Plaza. Traffic was light, the bus was on time. The train status board was not working in my direction, which annoys me, because I like to ride in the last car (nearest to my escalator at the other end, and less crowded), and because there was no board info, I had to stand closer on the platform, in case it was a 4 train, which it usually is at that time. But it turned out to be a 6-car train. Got to work in my usual 45 minutes.

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As a frequent user of I-70 from Howard County
to Baltimore I've found the signs very useful and accurate so far. Instead of (or in addition to) placing them on I-70, I suggest placing the signs along major arteries (e.g. US- 29) leading to that highway. Once you're on I-70 it does little good to learn you have a 60-minute jam ahead when you can't get off to take an alternative route! Advance warning will enable you to avoid the tie-up and seek a better route. At the same time you will not be adding to the congestion.