The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) recently started the first phase of the Waze Connected Citizens program, which will help drivers access real-time traveler information through phones, websites and mobile apps.
“We’ll be looking to do some more fine-tuning as we get feedback,” Sinclair Stolle, of the Iowa DOT’s Traffic Operations Office, recently told TI Daily News. “Otherwise, right now the next phase is to look at incorporating the Waze automated reports of traffic jams into the 511 traveler information system (websites, phone and mobile app).”
The Iowa DOT joined to Connected Citizens Program last October, although it took about three months to develop the product that is currently available.
The Waze data comes from the Waze mobile app, Stolle noted, which is gathered through crowd-sourced data from drivers who report on traffic disruptions. That information is then filtered through Waze “to only include traffic events that would impact your travels,” Stolle said.
Data shows there were 4.4 million Web hits, 166,000 phone calls and 71,000 app downloads since 2014 using the 511 traveler information system. These numbers are expected to increase through Waze, according to Iowa DOT.
