This one was so self-evident that I never thought to comment on it. Suggesting you should use Waze is akin to telling you about, oh I don’t know, maybe Evernote. But after the third blank stare this week when I asked if an iPhone user was using Waze, I thought it rated a mention.
Waze is a FREE gps navigation application, using what is called “crowd-sourced navigation.” The crowd consist of all the other Waze users, and all of the data they collect just by driving. Even more data is collected by the users’ input, and when it is all combined creates the real-time traffic.
If you just thought to yourself, “my car already has a nav unit”, you could be depriving yourself of a very good alternative. My car too has a nav unit, but it does not provide real time traffic, so I much prefer using Waze. Even if your car offers real time traffic, it is probably getting its information from information relayed by road sensors to the Department of Transportation and/or other government agencies. Does the government do anything right?
Waze real time traffic is much more. You receive instantaneous feedback from all the other Waze users, and Waze uses that information to route you around jams. I took off up the 5 freeway a few days ago, knowing that I would face the same bottleneck around the City of Norwalk that I always do. Waze had me concerned because it took me off the freeway and dumped me on a different freeway. I thought it might be doing something crazy like nav units sometimes do, but it ultimately put me back on the five freeway on the other side of the bottleneck in much less time. That alternative route had never occurred to me or any of my other nav units. Additionally, your fellow Waze users will let you know about road hazards, lane closures and police officers. It even directs you to the lowest priced gas.
If you are still thinking that you’ll just stick with your car’s nav unit, take this test. Fire them up side by side on your next long commute and see which one you prefer. Waze is available for both the iPhone and Android.