...I got 99 problems but commuting ain't one. /terrible Jay Z impression If you live somewhere that has you fighting traffic regularly and you haven't heard of Waze I suggest you listen up. I've been using it for the last few months and it is a game changing tool for commuters. What makes Waze so great is that it uses real time data from people who are using the app to show you the flow of traffic. You can show or hide yourself from being seen by other users on the map but either way your cell phone gps data is helping build a live view of the ebb and flow of traffic. Users can report conditions as they occur. Several times in the last few months I've been alerted to an accident I wouldn't have known about that occurred between me and my destination allowing me to reroute before I got stuck. Oh ya, it's also got great turn by turn GPS directions. People report police, road hazards, lane closures, stalled cars, accidents, red light cameras, traffic jams, and even gas prices. Reporting traffic related incidents in driver mode is easy and really not dangerous like you might think. It takes 2 to 3 presses of large tiles, you don't have to take your attention off the road to do it once you've used the app a few times. And while you're learning it's no more attention consuming than changing the radio station would be. If there is a false report users can flag it and it will be removed. That check and balance seems to be working. I find that the reports on Waze are both timely and accurate. I live in Austin, TX, which is small compared to where many of you live and when I login to Waze there are typically 400-500 users in my area online. I used it a few weeks ago in Dallas and a week later in New Jersey and there were more than 1,000 people in my area using it in both times and that was during the weekend when usage drops off dramatically. I imagine most large metro areas now have enough users for Waze to be very helpful. This app has helped me enough that I felt the need to get the word out. The more of us that join and use it the better it will become.
This kind of app provides a good illustration of how underutilized alternate routes can be. We have traffic, and the usual response is to add more lanes, when there are open alternatives already built. It's cool that this technology is able to redistribute traffic more effectively.
I've had this app for a couple of months now & I love it. I always turn it on when I hit the interstate. The only problem I have is that it eats my battery, even when I plug it into my car outlet.
Hmm, my commutes aren't long so that hasn't been an issue. When I was in New Jersey I had my phone plugged in because I was using it for extended periods of time (needed the GPS to get around in an unfamiliar area) so I had my phone plugged in and had no battery issues. Sounds like it might be a battery issues specific to your phone.
I've been using Waze for a couple months as well. Love it. Problem with my commute is that there aren't a lot of alternate routes I can take.
I feel Lanzman's pain. There are only two routes to take on my commute (without driving 10 miles out of the way, where I would only clog it up for those commuters, solving nothing). There are no connecting back/side roads - all non-major roads dead-end in a different subdivision, and no subdivisions connect. But for those of you who don't live in a boom-town with no infrastructure such as I do, it sounds great. Ten years and I can retire, bitches! No more commute for me.
I've been using it for several months as well, there is one feature I really do like. It learns you normal/preferred route and will give that route after it learns it. But if your normal route has a backup/jam on it it will show a way around it, or a different route altogether. And another feature I've found on it as well, if you have a certain destination that you leave for at a certain time it asks if you are going that way.
Mine's 7 minutes and about the only time I've been stuck in traffic going to/from work was when a bunch of my company's cows ( we have cows now?) got loose and ran into the street. I like Google Maps Traffic layer when I'm travelling in more congested areas, but I'll keep Waze in mind if I ever need something more in-depth.
If I'm driving at a time when I think traffic is going to be an issue, I'll pull up Google Maps and turn on the traffic filter. I don't know that it gives any input on secondary routes, but I can see if there are problems with the bottlenecks on the main arteries.
Google maps has a lag time. It was my go to map of choice until I discovered Waze and the greatness of real time date and crowd sourced information.
