Tools for the Road Warrior

[bigwheelzip]

Hopefully you all had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. On this busy travel week, I want to give a heads-up on a tool that helps drivers.

For years I used a Garmin GPS with a traffic conditions feature that warned of trouble ahead and offered to reroute around it. I heard of a free phone App called Waze that was supposed to do the same thing, and tested the App, from NY to SC and SC to FL.

The Waze App uses a phone GPS mapping capability and allows every user to add to it's real-time traffic conditions database.

The Waze App performed great in recognizing traffic concerns ahead, and was user-friendly in the way it reroutes around stopped traffic.

The App is free but pays for itself by showing advertisements when your vehicle comes to a stop.

Until testing this GPS App, I didn't use the phone while driving, so I needed a car mount for it. I don't like the circles on the glass that suction cups leave, so I tried a mount that uses the CD player slot. It works great.

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Y'all be safe out there.

 

[Arik]

I've been using Waze for a few years now. Its good. It was bought by Google a few years ago and is connected to Google maps. If you notify that there's traffic on your waze I'll see it on my computer if I'm on Google maps. It's not a 100% but works great. Occasionally it'll show traffic where there is none but that's also due to another user showing that there's traffic, which could have been 10 min before and has cleared up by the time you get there. It's only negative is that it burns through data if you don't have unlimited. Not bad if it's a short trip but going several hours may burn through your data if you don't have enough. Also in the summer time my phone over heats if I use Waze for any extended period of time

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[otisrush]

Waze has saved my bacon on a lot of occasions - rerouting me when something major happens. When I first started using solutions like this (first with a dedicated GPS unit for the car, later apps on the phone, and now Waze) I would sometimes question the recommendations I was being given. I learned very quickly I could not outsmart the device - and it was fruitless to try.

One time it took me off the interstate and onto a frontage road because of a jam that happened (I later found out) due to an accident. I was blasting by people standing still on the interstate. Then Waze had me approach the interstate to get back on. As I was about to turn onto the on-ramp I could see cars standing still on the highway - yet it was telling me to turn right and get on the on-ramp. As I did so I saw that the accident had occurred just prior to the on-ramp merge. I merged and was at full speed just ahead of the accident. It was a thing of beauty.

Technology can be frustrating, but it also is incredibly helpful.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I been using a TomTom for about a decade. I started with a universal A/C vent mount, and moved it as we replaced cars. I also fits my Android phone. My latest TomTom is pretty much junk, and in unfamiliar cities I use Google maps (for a fee) I'll look into this app, but my regular Google services on traffic, usually don't show a traffic back-up until I've been in it 15 to 20 minutes! Must be a lack of reporting.

The vent mount blows on you phone and cools it off in the summer, and I close the vent in the winter. I prefer to use a center of the dash position instead of left hand position, as I feel it keeps my eyes closer to traffic. My wife has never mastered driving and using a navigational aid-even with the voice command on. Personally I enjoy the commands in languages I don't or barely speak, for the joy of learning! Nothing like a pleasant German lady getting pissed at you for failing to make the correct turn (now I understand why Germans behave by nature!)

Ivan

 

[GaryS]

I use a vent mount on rental cars. Which is what I am doing currently in SC. I've gone from Google to Waze because it's more accurate and has better alerts.

Earlier in the week, I was in the FW area and Google Maps doesn't navigate that well around there. Waze is much better.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I've been using Waze for a few years now......it burns through data.... Also in the summer time my phone over heats if I use Waze for any extended period of time.

Yeah, when it comes to smart phone use, I'm sitting solidly on the trailing edge of technology, so it figures the cool kids have been using it for years.

I just checked the data use. I ran the Waze App 11 hours (SC to FL) on an Android 7.0 phone for a data drain of 0.2GB. My budget Cricket plan is 5.0GB/Month, so it's not too bad.

The phone seemed to stay normal temp, but the CD slot location keeps it out of the sun and the AC vents blow just above it.

 

[OFT II]

I don't need a GPS. I'm married.

 

[CBus660R]

Occasionally it'll show traffic where there is none but that's also due to another user showing that there's traffic, which could have been 10 min before and has cleared up by the time you get there.

On side streets that are popular re-routes in Waze, residents are starting to log in and report traffic from their couches to make Waze think it's not a good route.

 

[JohnRippert]

On side streets that are popular re-routes in Waze, residents are starting to log in and report traffic from their couches to make Waze think it's not a good route.

I would too if the reroutes were coming through our neighborhood. Apps like that should not reroute through residential areas.

 

[Arik]

On side streets that are popular re-routes in Waze, residents are starting to log in and report traffic from their couches to make Waze think it's not a good route.

We don't have that here though. The way everything is built is you have main roads and then developments off of those roads. Going through developments is not a good idea. Too many stop signs and the lights to the main road take forever to turn green. Along with that not all developments have an exit or exit somewhere else completely. There really aren't any side residential roads. Your either on a main road with stores and businesses or your at home

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