[ctrlrsf]

Waze always has the latest accident and traffic reports. There are three main routes to my job. I always open it up in the morning and check travel times for each one (just press Routes button instead of Go). I have my preferred route, which is always fastest and shortest, but if Waze ever suggests one of the other two, I know I should listen. When I look into it, it’s usually some major accident or something affecting a lane of travel. The few times I ignored it I deeply regretted it. Makes the difference between a 60 minute commute vs a 90 min commute on a bad day.

[exhilaration]

Google Maps is the same for me. Some of the accidents in Google Maps are labeled "reported by Waze" or something like that. It seems like I get the best of both worlds: crowdsourced traffic data from Waze within the clean interface of Google Maps.

[johncalvinyoung]

Definitely. I find myself using Waze primarily for that sort of hotspot detection, when I know all/almost all potential routes, but want to know how bad the best/worst case travel times are. If Waze reroutes me onto surface streets, best call in to my first meeting, that sort of thing.