Waze announces the launch of the Waze Transport SDK (Software Developer Kit) , empowering on-demand and transport companies to optimize service and grow their businesses with Waze ETA, turn-by-turn navigation and preferred routing displayed in their native applications. The Transport SDK brings unprecedented insight to partners, built upon years of driving data from more than 50 million active Wazers globally one of the largest historical and predictive data sets now available in the traffic industry.
Six initial partners in four industries, serving nine countries, demonstrate the versatility of Waze to power navigation for mobile developers of any sector:
- Parking
- JustPark (UK)
- Transport for Hire
- Cabify (Spain, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Colombia)
- Lyft (US)
- 99Taxis (Brazil)
- Emergency Dispatch
- Genesis Pulse (US)
- Delivery
- Cornershop (Mexico and Chile)
Inaugural Transport SDK launch partners were selected based upon track records of innovation, a shared vision for improved consumer service and enough scale to contribute significant, constructive feedback.
“Waze and our new partners share a common mission to combine strengths and share knowledge to provide a better experience for our respective users,” said Amir Mirzaee, head of Business Development, Waze. “This is big news for the Waze community as well. The SDK launch effectively adds hundreds of thousands of professional drivers to the 50 million users already contributing data to our map, greatly amplifying the amount of insight we have.”
Both mobile developers and consumers benefit when a service provider is powered by the Waze Transport SDK. Beyond gaining access to renowned Waze navigation tools, including driver ETA and turn-by-turn navigation, partners like JustPark are empowered to build new features that make their apps even better. More realtime information to share means more robust services that are easier to implement, such as finding a parking spot during prime rush hour.
“As a leading sharing economy business, we are constantly looking for ways we can make our cities function more efficiently by the sharing of information and resources.” said JustPark founder and CEO, Anthony Eskinazi. “Waze’s pioneering model for crowdsourcing realtime traffic data is therefore a natural fit for us, and we’re confident this integration will help improve and enrich our user experience.”
Passengers of partners like Cabify may wait less time for a ride and experience a faster, more efficient route likely the safest too, since the Waze routing algorithm incorporates road hazards and unexpected traffic and closures. Betteroptimized routes means more passengers served and greater opportunity to grow their business. Long term, customers of all partners may experience more innovative service, for example knowing the exact minute their delivery will arrive.
“Waze has the most accurate data on realtime traffic conditions,” said Juan de Antonio, CEO and founder, Cabify. “This is really valuable for Cabify to provide the best experience for both our drivers and our passengers. Drivers get to increase their efficiency by following optimal routes and passengers additionally benefit from accurate ETAs.”
The Waze Transport SDK reduces the friction of toggling between apps, a common request among professional drivers who rely upon an external navigation service. For emergency dispatch providers such as GenesisPULSE, seconds spared from ‘toggling’ combined with time shaved off a route could be a life saved.
Today’s announcement is the latest step in a broader industry effort by Waze to work across transport and municipal organizations to offer more efficient routes that yield safer roads. In the past two years, the company has begun to hone enterprise services powered by its unprecedented knowledge base. The Waze Connected Citizensprogram has pioneered a free two-way data exchange with more than 55 municipal organizations for safer, more efficient roadways. And more than 135 broadcast partners benefit from the Waze for Broadcasters tool to power traffic reporting with Waze realtime data and insight from drivers themselves.
The Waze Transport SDK is open to mobile developers of all geographies, industries and business size. Usage is free. For more information and to apply to become a Waze SDK partner, visit http://www.waze.com/transportSDK.
