RIDOT partners with Waze for traffic updates

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Transportation has partnered in a data-sharing partnership with Waze, a crowdsourced traffic and navigation app to provide a feed of travel-time updates on RIDOT’s highway message boards.

“The Federal Highway Administration is an avid advocate in using these signs to provide travel-time information to the traveling public,” said Carlos C. Machado, FHWA division administrator for Rhode Island. “Travel-time information can help reduce congestion, lessen bottlenecks and decrease driver anxiety, thereby mitigating crashes and saving lives.”

In return for Waze’s travel data, RIDOT will provide real-time updates on construction, crash and road-closure data to the company. The department had previously paid $200,000 annually for traffic and travel-time information.

“We are thrilled to partner with RIDOT and help them to save resources while gaining a deeper understanding of real-time traffic conditions,” said Thais Blumenthal de Moraes, head of Waze’s Connected Citizens Program.

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The information will be displayed starting Monday on four message boards, three on Interstate 95 North, and one on Route 4 South. Additional signs will be added to the travel-time program through the fall.

“We’re pleased to be able to leverage the power of this travel information, which most of us have access to through our smartphones, so it can be shared with everyone and get these messages to drivers quickly and safely,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said. “It’s also another legacy issue we’ve tackled, saving money for taxpayers while providing improved service.”

Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.