Since the mid-1970s, police scanners have been the only way for civilians to access real-time updates from police departments. Scanners work by flipping through multiple open radio conversations on emergency channels, providing an overall picture of a crisis from the people on the ground reacting to it. Because they offer fast and direct first-hand accounts, scanners have been invaluable for coordinating and linking emergency response.
By some estimates, Boston is one of the 10 worst cities for traffic congestion in the United States. To alleviate the problem, Boston tapped IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge and the technical expertise of that company's engineers to build an app that merges everything from cell phone accelerometer data to comments made via social media to paint an all-encompassing realtime picture of Boston's traffic situation.
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