But they have not dimmed my love for Waze. “In years past, this was a known shortcut by a few drivers but it has become really intrusive and a safety concern for others on the road.” “This is just another example of the negative impact to our quality of life of the non-commuters caused by Google Maps and Waze,” said Fremont traffic engineer Norm Hughes. This has been the situation for almost a year now with residents very frustrated.” “For residents like us to even cross or turning on to Paseo Padre from roads such as Upland, Pine Street or Cam Del Campo is very difficult. “This is forcing drivers using Waze-type services to move to inner roads, especially Paseo Padre Parkway, from 5 to 8 in the evenings,” said Stawan Kadepurkar of Fremont. Recently big rigs have gotten stuck trying to bypass 680 by using narrow Morrison Canyon Road where trucks are banned. Now attempts to use Mission Boulevard and Calaveras Road to skirt the freeway have led to more vehicles testing those narrow alternates. The evening commute on 680 north from Milpitas to Pleasanton and beyond has been horrendous for two decades. The result is gridlock in our neighborhood.”īut the East Bay may have the biggest Waze worry. “When traffic for the San Mateo Bridge slows down, Waze instructs drivers to get off the freeway. “Waze and other such apps have done more to damage traffic flow than the booming economy,” insists Larry Blair, who lives near the interchange in Foster City. “My neighborhood is pretty much up in arms about the huge influx of cars trying to avoid freeway tie-ups and cutting between 280, 85 and 237,” said Morgan, who lives on Cuesta Drive near El Camino Hospital. That’s a tally sure to grow, which makes Rose Morgan, of Mountain View, shudder. Waze, whose navigation advice is based on GPS tracking and crowdsourced feedback both from the Waze app and Google maps, issues 1.2 million road alerts each month.

101 interchange on the Peninsula, city streets in Mountain View and Los Gatos. The complaints come from side roads feeding off Interstate 680 at the Sunol Grade, residential areas near the Highway 92-U.S. Many residents and traffic engineers are fed up with Waze for diverting untold numbers of commuters onto streets they say were once fairly free of traffic. Just punch a destination into your smartphone and a Siri-like voice tells you how to skirt traffic slowdowns. It’s a great traffic app for alerting drivers to everything from a major crash ahead to a guy fixing a flat on the shoulder to road crews trimming weeds.

Celebrity voice on waze morrison