In a move the Florida Department of Transportation calls a win for drivers, it announced today it’s partnering with a Google-owned company to give motorists more up-to-date road condition alerts. The state is now exchanging information with a traffic alert app called Waze.
To find out when hazardous road conditions arise, the state transportation department relies on traffic cameras, sensors and motorists reporting when they see something. DOT spokesman Gene Glotzbach says the Waze app also crowd sources its information from drivers and sends out alerts after verifying the danger. With the new partnership, Waze users and people who use DOT’s 511 alert service will get both sources’ information.
"The public will get the benefit two ways: One is through enhanced reporting for Waze and enhanced reporting for the Department of Transportation," he says.
Glotzbach says the partnership is a free exchange of information and isn’t costing the state anything.
Florida drivers can receive road alerts by downloading the DOT 511 app on most smartphones, signing up for e-mails or by calling 5-1-1 anywhere in the state. And Waze is also available for free.