N.H. goes remote to track road conditions

New Hampshire is taking a Star Wars approach to snow removal. The Department of Transportation has been experimenting with remote sensing equipment to determine the ideal time to send out the sanders and plows.

"We have about 20 weather stations now," Bill Boynton, a spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, said earlier this week.

"The equipment measures wind speed, air moisture content, and the temperature of the pavement and air, and sends the information to the nearest patrol facility."

Boynton said the first sensor was deployed 10 years ago, on Little Bay Bridge in Newington. There are now about 20 stations across the state.

When the temperature is hovering around freezing and when rain or snow is in the forecast, he said, the department also sends out patrols with pavement sensors to help determine when to send out the trucks.

"We're still getting the quirks out the system," Boynton said. "It's part of an ongoing effort to make better decisions so we can use the least amount of salt necessary, both for the safety of drivers and the good of the environment."

Boynton said the department hopes to make the information available to the public via the Internet some time in the future.

MBTA commuter wants a warning

Timing is also important to MBTA rider Tim McAnany.

"I appreciate the MBTA's concern for passenger safety and have no qualms about the disruption of T service related to the hoax bombs.... I am, however, slightly perturbed at how the Orange Line handled the announcements," he wrote in an e-mail a day after the event.

"I was commuting from the Malden Center stop into Boston when I first got onto an inbound train. First an announcement came on saying there would be a delay due to a police action and that the train would wait at the station for a few moments -- no problem yet. Finally the train leaves Malden Center -- still no problem yet.

"And here's the problem: An announcement is made after the doors are closed and the train moving that it would not be going beyond Wellington Station and buses would be used to move people to North Station.

"The problem is that if the information was provided prior to the doors closing, I would have gotten off the train. As much as the MBTA was going to try, busing a full morning rush hour train on short notice to North Station just wasn't going to work out well. I would have gotten off the train and taken the commuter rail [which was not affected] into Boston or driven in. Instead I waited for a train to return to Malden Center from Wellington [waiting for the buses was taking even longer] and then try and catch the commuter rail [missed it and ended up driving in]."

Joe Pesaturo, the MBTA spokesman, said, "The T was not aware of the service suspension until the train already left the station." He said subsequent announcements did direct commuters to commuter rail as an option.

What about crush on the Green Line?

Marsha Finley asked in an e-mail, "What's the deal with the Green Line?"

Finley said she travels from the commuter rail stop at North Station to Arlington Street every day. "In the morning at North Station, I wait for a Green Line train with the throngs who just got off the commuter rail," she wrote. "Orange Line trains come and go. We wait. And wait.

"... Finally, a Green Line train comes. It has two cars. There is a mad scrimmage to get on; doors open and close while the driver yells at people to stand clear. When the train pulls away, it's stuffed to the gills.... Many times not everyone gets on. We wait. And wait."

She added, "Fast forward" to the evening commute and ditto.

Pesaturo replies that not every train on the Green Line travels the whole length of the line. Many turn around at Government Center and shuttle back and forth.

Several years ago, there were complaints about too little equipment shuttling to North Station and Lechmere, Pesaturo said, but he thought the situation had been corrected.

T officials are looking into Finley's complaint.

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