• The Waze application, which enables motorists to bypass traffic jams, is causing headaches in residential communities.
• A town in North Carolina has called on the company to stop traffic being diverted through its residential areas.
• Waze is working with the municipality of Southern Shores, which passed a resolution to prohibit through-traffic on its territory.
No one wants to be stuck in a traffic jam. For commuters, road trippers, truckers and any other travelers in vehicles, the rise of applications that analyze traffic in real time and provide alternate routes has been a godsend.
What could go wrong?
Well, for some communities, plenty. Many municipalities have been besieged by motorists taking detours through their city streets, as reported yesterday by The Drive. Apps will happily send drivers down side roads to avoid traffic jams on main thoroughfares. Normally quiet communities end up with an abnormally high flow of traffic.
In North Carolina, authorities, residents and legislators in the town of Southern Shores have been grappling with the problem for years. Despite the installation of ‘residents only’ signs, temporary barricades and speedbumps forcing motorists to slow down, the invasion continues.
In fact, those measures didn’t really solve the issue, because mostly they just diverted traffic to other residential streets, making congestion worse there.
Last week, city authorities approached navigation giant Waze directly in an attempt to resolve the issue. The city passed a resolution banning through-traffic at a city council meeting earlier this month. Taking effect between now and the Labour Day vacation, it will prohibit non-local motorists from using local streets. To make this possible, giants like Waze will have to make a few adjustments to their systems.
To that end, Southern Shores Mayor Elizabeth Morey met with Waze to discuss how it can stop diverting traffic through residential areas in accordance with the resolution. Waze agreed to take steps so that the resolution is adhered to.
Said Mayor Morey, “I think one of them visits here frequently so they feel our pain, which was really comforting to know. And they have assured us that if we adopt this resolution, [drivers] are not going to see where it’s faster to go through our town streets according to the traffic navigation app.”
This won't solve everything for the tourist town, as regulars to the square can still pass through a residential area, but it's a step in the right direction. Above all, it opens the door to other municipalities wishing to do the same.
We should expect that other cities will follow suit, especially now that Waze has shown itself open to working with municipalities that have passed resolutions like the one implemented by Southern Shores.