Traffic Patterns in Boston Metro/Vicinity (Woburn, Braintree: rent, hotels, transfer)

[CoffeeCoffeeCoffee]

I will be in Boston next week for a conference and due to my last-minute decision, most of the center-city hotels and immediate (within 10 miles) regions have been booked up or have ridiculously expensive hotels with a room or two available. I am left with the following regions as options: Saugus, Braintree, Woburn. I looked on Google maps and referred to their "typical traffic" feature and it looks quite green at 6am (need to be in the city by 7, 7:30 at the latest) with the exception of northbound 1.

Is this representative of commute into Boston? Might I be missing other lodging options (outside of AirBnb and the like) not typically on hotwire/priceline/etc? Can I cab/uber in/out of these towns?

Thanks in advance.

[MidwestRedux]

The Red Line of the T (subway) terminates Braintree. If you can get to Braintree Station you would be in Boston 30 minutes. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Br...3c28b87fa9eb64

You could probably get a cab from any of those towns, but it would be fairly pricey and maybe not that quick/convenient. I'm not sure about Uber.

You could rent a car and drive in from if you're ready to pay $25/day+ for parking. If you're driving, I would recommend Woburn out of those three. Traffic isn't that bad on 93 South towards Boston if you're in the city by 7:00ish.

[wolfgang239]

Just a thought... If you don't mind taking the subway the Braintree area is served by the Red Line. Have you looked at the nearest T stop to your conference? Hopefully you won't need to make any transfers. You could take a cab from the nearest station off the Red Line and still come out ahead. This way you wouldn't have to deal with driving, paying for parking, etc. Call and see if the hotel is willing to give you a shuttle ride to the Braintree station, or you can hire a cab. Just make sure you take a Braintree train back!

If you need to bring a bunch of stuff or if parking and all of your transportation costs will be expensed, you should be ok driving in. I would rather drive from Woburn or Saugus than Braintree at that hour, I would leave as early as you can. I have had Uber skip out on me right in the city so scratch it off your list. A cab could be scheduled but expect to pay $50+ each way.

[MidwestRedux]

Great minds think pretty much alike and at the exact same time!

[jayrandom]

If you really want an adventure, you could always look at hotels near the commuter rail. I know there a few near the Dedham Corporate stop on the Franklin Line. I occasionally see the odd tourist family or business traveler getting off there from the city.

[Parsec]

The same thing happened to a friend of mine when he traveled here. He stayed in Saugus and didn't like the Rt-1 commute into Boston. The next time he came, he stayed at one of the hotels at the airport and took the silver line in. I wouldn't recommend the commuter rail to an out of state business traveler due to the infrequent train service.

[CoffeeCoffeeCoffee]

Thanks everyone! I persistently kept on checking back on various websites for hotels and *poof* I am going to be 5 miles away from where I need to be, at a decently-priced (not bank-breaking, but not a deal either) hotel. I can definitely Uber/taxi/train, and airport shuttle my way around now.