The popular navigation app, which relies on users to input real-time information on road conditions, plans to plug its data into Miami-Dade’s own traffic-monitoring system. That should give Waze users quick updates when a burst county water pipe causes a detour and alert the county’s transportation administrators when Waze users are reporting slowdowns from a stalled vehicle.
“We’re soliciting real-time information we didn’t have before,” said Alice Bravo, Miami-Dade’s Transportation director.
The Waze deal, which a Transportation spokeswoman said is cost-free, brings Miami-Dade into a growing list of governments plugged into the app’s traffic-data stream. In exchange for the Waze data, Miami-Dade is providing the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company access to county data, such as traffic-light outages, repair and road-closure alerts from Water and Sewer, and other warnings that can be useful to drivers. Waze says it has about 100,000 users in Miami-Dade.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who is running for re-election amid criticism over county traffic, announced the deal at a Thursday press conference. Miami-Dade joins Miami Beach, Tampa, Florida’s Department of Transportation, and other governments in Waze’s Connected Citizens program. In a press release, Gimenez said that smart-phone technology has become a crucial navigation tool for local motorists “and now we can be part of their ride.”
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