This is a demo website.
This project is a student-built demo tool designed to help Boston residents decide whether owning a car makes sense for their lifestyle.
Boston is a dense city with limited street space, neighborhood-specific parking rules, and strong alternatives to car ownership. Many residents are “on the margin” — unsure whether to buy a car, keep one, or go car-free. This project helps users think through that decision using logic, lived experience, and Boston-specific context.
Live demo link:
website
Boston operates a Residential Parking Program, where many streets are marked “Resident Parking Only” and require permits. Parking availability, regulations, and enforcement vary by neighborhood and can significantly affect daily life.
At the same time:
- Transit, walking, biking, delivery services, and ride-share are widely used
- Many households do not rely on a personal car every day
- Car ownership introduces ongoing responsibilities beyond just driving
This tool helps residents reason through these tradeoffs in a structured, transparent way.
The website walks users through a decision process focused on:
- Lifestyle fit
- Daily logistics
- Mental and time burden
- Boston-specific parking realities
Instead of only asking “How much does it cost?”, the tool asks:
- How much ongoing responsibility does a car add?
- How often is a car actually needed?
- What stress or flexibility tradeoffs matter most?
The site includes an calculator that allows users to explore:
- Typical car ownership expenses
- Car-free alternatives such as transit, ride-share, or rentals
The calculator is meant as decision support for financial forecasting with assumptions.
Users can explore scenarios, but the tool does not claim exact or universal costs.
The project includes an AI decision assistant that guides users through a personalized reasoning process.
The AI agent:
- Asks users about their situation (e.g. student, couple, family, frequent traveler)
- Collects the user’s own pros and cons
- Reflects their thinking back clearly
- Adds Boston-specific context such as:
- residential parking permits
- street cleaning and snow emergencies
- time spent finding parking
- ongoing maintenance and attention required by car ownership
- Presents a structured pros vs cons debate
- Provides a recommendation that often nudges toward not owning a car, while remaining honest and ethical
If a user has special circumstances (e.g. babies, disability, caregiving, medical needs, job requirements), the AI explicitly acknowledges that going car-free may be harder or not feasible.
The AI agent:
- Uses both qualitative and quantitative descriptions
- Avoids shaming or pressure
- Treats car ownership as a valid choice when appropriate
- Qualitative + Base Quantitative reasoning over rigid calculations
- Transparency about tradeoffs
- Boston-specific lived experience
- Ethical, non-manipulative AI guidance
- Support for people who are genuinely undecided
The tool emphasizes mental load, time, predictability, and flexibility, not just money.