Waze Integration Starting to Show up in Google Maps

it would be nice if the upgrade cycle for Tesla apps such as maps more closely matched the iOS version.

Or the android version, for that matter. I think, however, it is unlikely to happen any time soon because T Maps is well behind G Maps, by at least 2 revisions. T maps is tile based and Android G Maps has been vector based for a long time now (iOS version more recently).

You could even hold down voice command and say 'report heavy traffic'. That would be helpful.

Waze integration with google maps!!

Well we all knew this was going to happen eventually after their recent acquisition .. But looks like they're already rolling out new features from it!! Awesome... So when are we going to get this in the maps app on our consoles??

Beep beep! Google Maps merges real-time driving data from Waze Tech News and Analysis

Traffic and routing don't come from Google though, right?

brianstorms said:

Hope not... I've had countless bad routing from Waze in many cities from LA to Oklahoma City to DC. It simply cannot be trusted.

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I almost never use Waze but the traffic reporting feature is good though, isn't it? The way traffic is on the Model S now it does little good until you are in the middle of the traffic and can't do anything about it.

brianstorms said:

Hope not... I've had countless bad routing from Waze in many cities from LA to Oklahoma City to DC. It simply cannot be trusted.

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Waze routing was bad many months ago but is much better now. And traffic and cop and camera and road closure reporting is superior.

brianstorms said:

Hope not... I've had countless bad routing from Waze in many cities from LA to Oklahoma City to DC. It simply cannot be trusted.

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Fix it then, the map editing is open to anyone. Now that addresses can be found through Google instead of Waze POI it should be better too.

Now that Google owns them maybe they'll combine the best of both. Google maps and routing with Waze traffic and other user reporting. Hopefully Tesla will somehow incorporate that.

dsm363 said:

Now that Google owns them maybe they'll combine the best of both. Google maps and routing with Waze traffic and other user reporting. Hopefully Tesla will somehow incorporate that.

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I suggest you not hold your breath on that one.

Tesla - It would be great if you allowed an app for Waze's navigation system to be an option available to your owners.

dsm363 said:

You could even hold down voice command and say 'report heavy traffic'. That would be helpful.

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My old Cadillac would do that automatically, even if you weren't using Nav. (Would say things like "lane closure 1 mile" or "accident in the right lane 2 miles ahead" and so forth). It got it's data from the XM Traffic feed, I believe.

I love Waze. It shows where the police are and where there's trouble like stalled cars, etc. It's not 100% accurate but it's better than just traffic info.

Ok, baseline question ... as I have asked people this for years and never gotten a good reply.

How do ANY of the mapping providers, when they integrate traffic, get their traffic data?

Sensors on the road ... impossible.

I've always assume it is somehow related to cellular / mobile traffic RF. But then how would the services differentiate between a pedestrian (2mph), someone sitting down and a car doing 50?

So, if I am really asking a stupid question ... forgive me ... yet again ... but just how do they know?

sp4rk said:

Sensors on the road ... impossible.

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Actually, some roads do have sensors. I'm not sure if they're embedded in the pavement or (more likely) based on some software using traffic cams as an input. The Gardiner Expressway in Toronto has this technology, and my former Cadillac could pick this up through its XM Traffic interface.

In other instances, YOU are the sensor. Many of the smartphone apps "phone home" with your data on speed, direction etc.

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Teriyaki88 said:

I love Waze. It shows where the police are and where there's trouble like stalled cars, etc. It's not 100% accurate but it's better than just traffic info.

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Because it's crowdsourced, it relies on other Waze users providing input. I have found on the routes I take there may be one other Waze user 15 miles from me, and that's about it.

An ideal solution would pull from multiple sources and aggregate it all into one view.

My only issue with using Waze or any of the other traffic apps ... is actually being able to interact with them while driving.

sp4rk said:

Sensors on the road ... impossible.

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mknox said:

Actually, some roads do have sensors. I'm not sure if they're embedded in the pavement or (more likely) based on some software using traffic cams as an input. In other instances, YOU are the sensor. Many of the smartphone apps "phone home" with your data on speed, direction etc.

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Usually the sensors are roadside microwave detectors, some mounted next to video traffic cams. Many sensors are apparently privately owned and then the data sold to Garmin, XM, Google, etc. They also buy data from fleet vehicles. More recently, as @mknox says, more and more data is becoming crowd-sourced and putting the private data sellers out of business! (When you agree to have your position known to Google or others you may be automatically agreeing to allow it to be part of the crowd-sourced dataset).

Musterion said:

Usually the sensors are roadside microwave detectors, some mounted next to video traffic cams. Many sensors are apparently privately owned and then the data sold to Garmin, XM, Google, etc. They also buy data from fleet vehicles. More recently, as @mknox says, more and more data is becoming crowd-sourced and putting the private data sellers out of business! (When you agree to have your position known to Google or others you may be automatically agreeing to allow it to be part of the crowd-sourced dataset).

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Tesla could sell them our data...