Waze begins to cross global warnings for railways

Google-owned navigation app Waze launches a global security feature that alerts users to upcoming track crossings.

The feature is not entirely new, and was quietly launched in the US, Belgium and Canada earlier this year, but Waze says it is now extending the warnings to more areas. In some countries it works with official data from railway companies, while in others (such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Israel, Brazil, Mexico) it relies on its community of local map editors to add alerts.

“Alarms for railway crossings began to roll out on Waze earlier this year, however now that more people are returning to the roads after the COVID-19 eruption we are highlighting this functionality to promote traffic safety,” a Waze spokesman said. The edge.

The alarms appear as a pop-up in the Waze app, but can be disabled by users. To turn off the alerts, users can go to Search> Settings> Map view> Reports> Track crossing and select “Alert me while driving.” It is not clear how many crossing points are included in Waze’s database or how coverage may vary between countries.

Image: Waze

Many railroad organizations, such as the US Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), have relied on GPS apps for years to integrate railroad alarms. Safety agencies say drivers are still confused about where and when to stop near railroad crossings, especially if they suffer from fatigue, and that warnings from navigation apps like Waze can help them think about these dangers. The most recent data from the FRA covering 2018 reported that there were 2,217 collisions at railroad crossings in the US with 262 of these resulting in deaths.

Dani Simons, head of Waze’s public-sector partnerships, said the function was the result of a cross-sector, cross-sector collaboration, both internally within Waze and the community, working together to help co-drivers help to map all intersections on railways. ”