Stuck in Traffic
Driving and/or here in the Philippines is not a walk in the park. Don’t you just hate bumper to bumper traffic? You even try to take alternate routes just to get around it but sometimes even those alternate routes also have heavy traffic. I personally do not think that traffic here in our country will be solved any time soon, so what can we do? An option is to always be hot-headed about it. Another option is to adapt. A lot of mobile applications have been created to help people adapt to this ongoing problem of traffic, one of which is Waze. Waze is a community-centered navigation application that makes use of actual feedback by the current users regarding the traffic conditions of the specific route you are taking. It also provides reports about road accidents and police traps which are also generated by the users themselves.
Comparing Waze to other GPS navigation applications, I think Waze has the upper-hand. Aside from it being interactive, it is able to generate the best route you can take given the traffic conditions present. It can also predict how long it will take you to arrive at your destination if you leave a couple of minutes later than you originally planned to. In comparison to the MMDA traffic advisory, Waze has a more all-around approach. The MMDA traffic advisory application only shows the traffic update in major roads such as EDSA and Marcos Highway. It also lacks the interactive aspect of the community. It is only designed for passive users. The users are not given the chance to constantly update each other about road hazards, traffic situation, etc. unlike in Waze. Aesthetically, Waze is also more appealing as it has cute cars with different designs that represent the users. It also has signs for the road hazards and has a color-coded system of showing the traffic levels. Waze also has a team that regularly edits its maps to keep it up to date.
As you can see, there is a distinct difference between the two applications. As a commuter, traffic is one of my top concerns. Waze has been helping me a lot in adjusting to the traffic conditions. However, adapting can only go so far. At the end of the day, I still am looking for a viable solution to this horrible traffic problem we have. (It’s even worse when it rains.)
