Plano Partners With WAZE To Cut Traffic, Ease Commutes

PLANO, TX — WAZE users will soon have an easier time navigating the streets of Plano thanks to a partnership between city engineers and creators of the navigation app.

This partnership allows the City of Plano to provide the app with locations of road construction and traffic, helping app users better navigate Plano.

Plano has been a member of WAZE Connected Citizen Program since summer of 2017. The WAZE application provides a platform for drivers to share information such as traffic congestion and accidents, and use this information to provide better navigation. Because they rely on accurate and timely data, they created the Connected Citizens Program, which works with local governments from around the world to collect (or even help create) data feeds including planned road closures, locations of parking lots, and speed limits on roads.

In return for the data about our roads, Waze shares anonymous, aggregated crowdsourced data reported by the community including traffic congestion and hazard information at no cost. The city said and WAZE will use this data to improve travel for drivers and overall improve mobility in Plano.

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The partnership with WAZE is the City’s latest Smart City initiative. Smart Cities are urban areas that use an array of technology to electronically collect information to manage community services, from transportation to finding lost pets. Smart City tools are designed to improve the efficiency of City operations and services and simplify residents’ daily lives. Smart City initiatives can not only enhance the quality, performance and interactivity of services, they can reduce costs and increase contact between residents and their government.

Report compiled with information from a City of Plano press release.
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