Street cleaning tomorrow? Check your E-mail

(David L Ryan/Globe Staff/file/October 2006)

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Tired of that early morning dash in bare feet and boxers to beat the tow truck because you forgot about street cleaning? Sick of starting the day with a $40 ticket tucked under your windshield wiper?

Boston now offers e-mail reminders for street cleaning, giving drivers a cyber nudge the night before so they do not forget to move their cars. On the city website, drivers can signup for the "No Tow" e-mail service, which follows a successful pilot program last year in the North End.

"The purpose here is to not have people get towed," said Bill Oates, Boston's chief information officer. "What we are really trying to do is proactively remind people with tools like e-mail and text messaging that are in people's hands now because of BlackBerries" and other devices.

By this week, 909 users had signed up for the free service, a number that officials hope will grow now that it covers the entire city. The cost to the city to create the subscription service was negligible, officials said, because it only involved existing computer programs and scheduling and street data from the transportation department.

To sign up, users enter the street for which they would like reminders and chose the block and side of the street. At about 6 p.m. the night before, the system spits out an email message:

Tomorrow is the 1st Friday of April, and the streets listed above are scheduled for sweeping. Please remember to move your vehicle to avoid ticketing and towing. For more details visit http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/sweeping.

Disclaimer: This electronic reminder is provided as a courtesy by the City of Boston. Accuracy and completeness of this data is not guaranteed. If you find a discrepancy between this email and a posted street sign, then this email is wrong -- always obey the street sign. Please report any discrepancy by email to no-tow@cityofboston.gov.

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