Winnipeg, MB - The City of Winnipeg has entered into a data-sharing partnership with Waze (www.waze.com), the free, real-time crowdsourced traffic and navigation app powered by the world’s largest community of drivers. Through Waze, Winnipeg drivers will be able to share information with and receive the latest traffic information from the City’s soon to open Transportation Management Centre.
“I am pleased Council approved this partnership earlier this fall,” said Mayor Brian Bowman. “The Transportation Management Centre is going to be an important part of improving traffic flow in Winnipeg, and is an important part of building a modern transportation network that helps drive our economy and serve a city that is growing toward one million people strong.”
The Waze Connected Citizens Program gives municipalities an unprecedented look at real-time road activity, empowering partners to harness real-time driver insights to improve congestion and make better informed planning decisions. Established as a two-way data share, Waze provides partners with real-time, anonymous, Waze-generated incident and slow-downinformation directly from the source: drivers themselves. In exchange, the City will provide real-time government-reported construction, crash and road closure data to Waze to return one of the most succinct, thorough overviews of current road conditions today.
“We are thrilled to partner with Waze to gain a deeper understanding of real-time traffic conditions and to share information with drivers from our Transportation Management Centre through the app,” said Michael Cantor, City of Winnipeg Traffic Signals Engineer. “We encourage all Winnipeggers to download the Waze app and start using it today so that we can improve Winnipeg traffic flow together.”
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. The City of Winnipeg can also provide Wazers with advanced notice of major traffic events such as parades and other special events that will affect their daily routes.
“Through the Waze Connected Citizens Program, Winnipeg will contribute critical data to the Waze app which is key for hyperlocal citizen support,” said Mike Wilson, Country Manager for Waze Canada. “No one knows more about what is happening on the roads than Wazers, and Winnipeg will be able to use these anonymous insights to further promote safer roads. In exchange, Winnipeg is providing critical road closure and incident data to Waze, helping Wazers better circumvent major traffic events and real-time traffic blocks.”
To find out more about Connected Citizens visitwaze.com/ccp or watch this video. To learn more about Waze visit www.waze.com or watch this video.
To download the free Waze app for iOS or Android, visit www.waze.com/get.
About Waze
Waze is the social navigation pioneer, leveraging mobile technology and a passionate global community to redefine expectations of today’s maps. Waze is home to the world’s largest network of drivers who work together daily to outsmart traffic and save time and money. The app consistently recommends the fastest routes based on real-time driving and data from millions of users. From traffic reroutes to low gas price alerts and relevant offers from favorite brands, Waze is one of the most comprehensive driving companions in the marketplace.