Usually only a nobody walks in L.A., but the greater Los Angeles will be turned into a wasteland of nobodies when 10-mile stretch of the 405 Freeway closes July 15-17.
The locals are braced for “carmageddon,” the gridlock of all gridlocks as the most traveled freeway in the U.S. shuts down.
Some are predicting that it may also be a test of iPhone apps, mainly those designed to re-route drivers based on traffic conditions.
Waze is banking on being the app that gets people through it. The free app, which helps drivers track traffic and find alternate routes comes equipped with the now-inevitable “social” component, has launched a Beat Carmageddon site and a partnership with the local ABC station to track what its estimated 180,000 users in the area get up to over the weekend.
Anyone foolhardy enough to drive that stretch of freeway can help leaving the app and “passively contribute traffic and other road data” that Waze (“ways”) uses to update the live map.
If you want to actively contribute (or let’s hope there is someone bored riding shotgun to do this) you can share info on accidents, police traps and other driving conditions or hazards.
The app also integrates tweets, Foursquare check-ins, Facebook friends, etc.
User reviews for the app released in late May have been largely positive, though one user nicknamed llkikkiney called it “glitchy” — saying that on multiple occasions that the app said to get off the interstate only to immediately get back on. It’s also told me to pull into a driveway then continue in the same direction…Oh well. I guess I will try MapQuest.”
You have been forewarned.
Source: LA Weekly
Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco freelance writer who heads up Cult of Mac Magazine, our weekly publication available on iTunes. You can find her on Twitter and Google+. If you’re doing something new, cool and Apple-related, email her.
10 responses to “Carmageddon to test iPhone Driving App”
Don’t need an app — I’m investing in personal helicopter technology.
it’s a very good Israeli developers.
Waze is good if you know where you’re going. Using it as your primary GPS software is foolish. Use it to check for hidden speed traps, accidents, and traffic flow.
I’ve been using Waze now for some time. It is an incredible app, but as @AaronD12:disqus
has correctly pointed out, it’s not really that great as a primary GPS because 1. it’s slower than a real GPS at getting your exact location (that’s the iPhone’s fault); 2. it’s not very good at showing when to turn left or right (IGO does this correctly) and 3. if you get a phone call on your phone (it does happen) whilst driving, then at least in Israel, you don’t get updated data downloaded.
However, when it comes to telling you the best route to take and updating on the fly both a new route and new etas it’s brilliant. I know it may feel silly using 2 GPS devices, but honestly until I can get traffic info and spontanous speed traps on my IGO GPS, it will always be there as my secondary GPS device.
The usual idea is that you would use NFC to set up the link between the two devices and then do an automatic hand over to a different protocol for doing the actual transfer of data – eg Bluetooth,iphone 5