Two-Way Data Share Hopes to Ease Congestion and Better Inform Infrastructure
The City of Roanoke announces a data-sharing partnership with Waze, a navigation platform creating community on and off the road. Designed as a two-way data sharing program of publicly available traffic information, the Waze’ Connected Citizens Program promotes safer travel for the citizens of Roanoke, along with more than 600 other partners around the world.
Waze provides Roanoke with anonymous information on congestion, road closures, rerouting due to events, and accidents and other incidents directly from the source: drivers themselves. In exchange, Roanoke provides real-time, government-reported construction, crash and road closure data to Waze to return one of the most thorough overviews of current road conditions available. This ensures that drivers and municipalities have up-to-date information at all times, and that the City of Roanoke stays on top of issues and can plan accordingly.
In addition, during emergency situations – such as major weather events – Waze provides the option to search for nearby shelters and open gas stations, as well as an SOS button to call on other Wazers for roadside assistance.
“The City of Roanoke is thrilled to partner with Waze to provide better customer service and traffic information to our citizens,” said Transportation Manager Mark Jamison. “Waze is a vital tool through which we can expand our current efforts to let citizens know about traffic impacts of capital improvement projects, special events, and planned street closures. Perhaps more importantly, the city is confident that Waze can be a means for sharing locations of incidents and unplanned events that affect travel.”
“By collaborating with the City of Roanoke as a Connected Citizens Program partner, we have the opportunity to make a difference on the local level with the aim of eliminating traffic,” said Thais Blumenthal de Moraes, Global Business Development Lead, Connected Citizens Program at Waze. “We’re excited to be combining our efforts to benefit the larger community.”
To find out more about the Waze Connected Citizens Program visit http://waze.com/ccp. To download the free Waze app for iOS or Android, visit http://www.waze.com/get.
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About Waze
Waze is where people and technology meet to solve transportation challenges. It's a platform that empowers communities to contribute road data, edit Waze maps, and carpool to improve the way we move about the world. Thanks to its passionate community, Waze is able to partner with municipalities and transit authorities to reduce traffic and congestion—leveraging current infrastructure while impacting city planning. Waze also works closely with tech and automotive brands to reimagine what transportation looks like today.
A world with better transportation doesn't have to be in the distant future. By harnessing the full power of community to reverse negative trends in transportation now, Waze can create a world where traffic is history.