Boston in the US has installed Smart Parking Sensors and Time to Destination Signs in the Innovation District, an area in South Boston waterfront, as part of its effort to better manage traffic.

Smart Parking Sensors provide information on available, on-street parking spaces, while Time-to-Destination Signs offer information on the quickest route to take out of the Innovation District to the highway system during the evening commute.

Boston Mayor Thomas M Menino said: "The Innovation District is the fastest growing area in Boston and it is well-served by public transportation, as well as safe and attractive walking routes, and conveniently located bike lanes. The installation of this new equipment will now ensure a quicker and more pleasant trip to this neighborhood for those commuters and visitors who choose to drive."

"The sensors will reduce traffic congestion by decreasing the number of drivers circling around."

Boston has installed a total of 330 Smart Parking Sensors along stretches of Seaport Boulevard, Congress Street, Summer Street and Boston Wharf Road.

The city had purchased the sensors from Streetline, a California based company also working on similar traffic issues with other municipalities in the United States and Europe.

The company’s free mobile app ‘Parker’ conveys the information from the sensors to assist drivers looking for local parking spaces.

It can be downloaded free of cost from the iTunes Store or Google Play.

Boston has installed a total of four Destination Signs in the following there locations; Sleeper Street, East Service Road, and Seaport Boulevard.

The signs use real-time traffic data from area roads to help direct drivers to the one ‘less travelled’ at the time, and then to Route 93 North and South.

Boston Transportation Department commissioner Thomas J Tinlin said: "The sensors will reduce traffic congestion by decreasing the number of drivers circling around looking for an open parking space, and the Time-to-Destination signs will help by moving vehicles out of the Innovation District and onto the highway system as quickly and efficiently as possible."

The city had purchased the signs from Pennsylvania based manufacturer All Traffic Solutions, which also provides the traffic data via its partnership with TomTom.

The traffic management initiative in the Innovation District is part of Boston’s Complete Streets Strategy, a plan to create a greener, smarter and more multi-modal transportation network citywide.