IOWA DOT uses Waze Connected Citizens program

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced that it has joined the Waze Connected Citizens program in order to provide drivers with better access to real-time traveler information.

This move will enable the Iowa DOT to increase its amount of real-time data.

This decision was made in light of the historic amount of Iowa’s road construction during the summer months. Travelers can make important decisions when they know where traffic is stopped or moving.

Waze, a crowdsourced navigation smartphone app, takes input from the largest community of drivers in the world to report about traffic disruptions. This allows other drivers to avoid these disruptions as well, guaranteeing a better movement of overall traffic.

To launch the new program, Iowa DOT has started a new Waze layer within the DOT’s 511 traveler information system. This system is available via phones, websites and mobile apps. The layer gives drivers data filtered through the Iowa DOT’s crowdsource to show the current rate of traffic, including traffic crashes, jams, closures, heavy fog, objects on the road and more.

"Every second counts,” Sinclair Stolle, from the Iowa DOT’s Traffic Operations Office, said. “If we can get this information out to the public as soon as possible, they can make more informed decisions about their trip."