Waze is officially adding a feature that drivers have been asking about for ages. After several months of testing, the navigation app is starting to roll out traffic light icons to the general public. But you it doesn't appear to be universally available just yet.
The original testing was first spotted last December, with on-and-off reports over the past few months. Now, though, it seems as though traffic lights are showing up for a lot more people. Sadly, it seems the very nature of how Waze operates means their appearance on the map is a little inconsistent.
The thing you need to understand about Waze is that, unlike Google Maps, it doesn't rely on a huge archive of saved data. It's all about crowdsourced information, and it means the knowledge Waze has is only as good as what drivers have been reporting. That includes things like speed cameras and, I'm guessing, traffic lights.
I took a quick look at my local area, since I have a good understanding of where all the lights are already. The map was pretty empty, for the most part, but I did see a few places that featured the iconic three-light design of traffic lights. But nowhere near as many as there are in reality.
That makes me wonder how Waze is identifying traffic lights, and whether it's picking and choosing where to actually show them. My initial thoughts were that the lights would only appear on active routes, but it seems they are visible on the standard map.
There's also no option to report working traffic lights within the Waze app (only broken ones), and the official Map Editor doesn't seem to include them either. However, there may also be a chance that my low level has something to do with that
Knowing when traffic lights are coming up can be a big benefit if you're in an unfamiliar area. Being able to anticipate the fact you may need to stop means you can slow down smoothly and not destroy your gas mileage with harsh braking.
So keep an eye on Waze, because next time you drive, you may just get a helping hand anticipating the next set of lights.
