ALDOT, Waze partner to bring AL drivers real-time traffic, road conditions

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Sitting in traffic is a pain in the neck. If only you had known that last exit could have swept you around a problem and to your destination before you cleared the bend in the road. The smooth flowing traffic before you has come to a dead stop, but a new partnership may help alleviate your aggravations.

The Alabama Department of Transportation announced Thursday that it's partnering with Waze, the free, real-time navigation app that works off crowdsourcing, in order to give drivers better details on current road conditions.

ALDOT, the first in Alabama to join the Waze Connected Citizens Program, says the data will be integrated into the new ALGOTraffic.com website it recently launched.

"We are pleased to partner with Waze to gain a deeper understanding of real-time road conditions," said ALDOT spokeswoman Allison Green. "By integrating the Waze data with our ALGO Traffic website, we can help motorists get to where they are going safely and on time. Having the context of why traffic congestion has occurred, in addition to specific incident reports, is invaluable for our traffic incident management team."

"No one knows more about what is happening on the roads than Wazers, and ALDOT will be able to use these anonymous insights to further promote safer roads," Paige Fitzgerald, Connected Citizens Program Manager at Waze. In exchange, ALDOT is providing critical road closure and incident data to Waze, helping Wazers better circumvent major traffic events and real-time traffic blocks. This exchange empowers our users, ALDOT and the broader community to work together to improve mobility on Alabama roads."

Waze will provide the real-time, traffic data on things like slowdowns and crashes. The info comes directly (and anonymously) from drivers themselves! In return, ALDOT will provide real-time government-reported construction, crash and road closure data to Waze.

According to Waze:

• Birmingham has more than 42,600 monthly active users (called Wazers) who use the app to collectively drive nearly 9 million miles per month.
• Mobile has more than 16,000 monthly active Wazers who use the app to collectively drive more than 4 million miles per month.
• Montgomery has nearly 12,900 monthly active Wazers who use the app to collectively drive more than 3 million miles per month.

The Waze map evolves with every driver and data point it receives, promoting safer roads and sharing more knowledge with Wazers about potential delays to their commutes. The Connected Citizens program yields even more data, giving local citizens a greater ability to circumvent road closures and traffic jams within the app. ALDOT can also provide Wazers with advanced notice of major traffic events such as parades and other special events that will affect their daily routes.

INFORMATION SOURCE: Alabama Department of Transportation

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