When I lived in Pamplona I confess that I didn’t worry too much about traffic, but when I moved to Madrid things changed drastically: taking the car went from a habit to something and traffic jams, especially when planning to return to Navarre to spend the weekend there, is such an important issue that it can result in arriving home more than an hour late. Add fuel, choose the right start time, a good playlist and open our browser in Android Auto. Browsers compatible with Android Auto are few, but in practice, we generally tend to fall between the two: Google Maps and Waze, what better way to avoid traffic jams and delays?
Go ahead, Google Maps and Waze both offer alternative routes from the start and during the trip, showing areas with high vehicle density in different colors and even providing a temporary estimate of how much it will cost us to cross them. . Thus, both apps are essentially compliant. That being said, your we are looking for the application that best estimates traffic in real time
To use: To ensure the best performance and all options available, it is best to ensure that you have the latest version of Android Auto and the respective apps.
Community vs Algorithms
A few years ago, Google detailed how its original browser software is able to offer real-time traffic data. In addition to its huge database, it has machine learning, user data collection and algorithms.
For starters, Google Maps uses location and speed data taken by users in real time from their devices, satellite detection, and has a history of driving behavior to make predictions of traffic conditions. Then it takes into account the type of road – condition, dimension, if there are usually delays – and it has data authorized by the administration to know the speed limits, tolls, restrictions…
This poses a scenario on which Google applies Refined machine learning powered by Deepmind depending on traffic patterns over time. That is, Google knows that on a certain road at certain times X number of vehicles are traveling with a certain speed.
At the time, Google introduced the ability to report incidents, one of Waze’s great assets, but on a smaller scale and not available in Android Auto. We should not forget something either: Google owns Waze and when it acquired it explained that it was doing it to enrich Maps, so in theory it also takes into account the reported incidents
The result is a traffic estimate that stands out for its accuracy because it solves this problem across an infinite number of factors, but processing this huge amount of information means that that real time takes you longer and maybe sometimes it’s already late
Google Maps is an ax when it comes to displaying maps, but to avoid traffic jams, the Waze community is your asset. Reporting incidents in Waze is a simple task from the mobile app and Android Auto. And Waze users are fervent informants: traffic jams, accidents, police checks, works, dangers on the road or on the shoulder, other dangers…
Agility as a great support in traffic
We had warned in the previous point that Google Maps takes it into account in its calculations, but either does not give it as much importance in its algorithms, or directly, as updating the estimate of the importance of a traffic jam takes longer to produce. In both cases, in Waze real-time actions are faster depending on what is happening.
Note that although in Waze there is a specific warning for traffic jams, other milestones may end up directly or indirectly (when the assistance services or tow truck arrives) leading into a traffic jam. Google Maps may have more reliable information (in Waze it may happen that you are warned of a police check that does not exist), but with Waze you will know why there is a traffic jam. After all, it’s not the same whether it’s a one-time retention or they pull a car off the road. Google limits itself to coloring traffic jams in orange or red and it’s up to you to choose what to do: endure or find another route. Waze also supports you with traffic speed. Knowledge is power and in this case choose better.
We tried to open Google Maps and Waze creating the same route with traffic issues in both and both generated different routes. In general, Waze is committed to walking around more, avoiding traffic jams. Here it will be up to you decide if you prefer to continue on the main road or take the side streets at the cost of maneuvers and a few more kilometers to reach your destination earlier.
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