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Waze Introduces “Where To Park” Feature (Finally)

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Stephen Colbert Waze App

Thank goodness for GPS apps on smartphones that help us get from place to place with as little pain as possible. While applications like Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze make getting to your destination infinitely easier than the days of paper maps or printed MapQuest destinations, there is one area where they are sorely lacking: They offer absolutely no help when it comes to parking.


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To fix that problem, Waze partnered with the minds at INRIX to add parking data to its maps in North America and Europe. The “where to park” feature of the app will suggest the parking lots closest to the chosen destination, and then provide navigation to the selected lot. If a user does not choose where to park before setting off, options will be provided as the driver gets close to the intended destination.

According to Waze and INRIX, in 2015 drivers lost about 55 hours on average looking for a place to park, which adds up to about $600 million in fuel and precious time. “Driving around looking for spots impacts arrival times and adds unneeded frustration and stress to the entire driving experience,” said Flavia Sasaki Siqueira, Head of Business Development for Waze. “As the co-pilot for driver navigation, Waze has begun to rollout the first of its parking suite features to solve this issue for drivers. Combining INRIX parking information with our own parking database expands reach and accuracy of the ‘where to park’ feature.”


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Most of us are familiar with the Waze app, which offers navigation as well as real-time road reporting tools, all narrated by favorite celebrities like Stephen Colbert or characters from the Star Wars franchise. INRIX is considered one of the major players in the world of connected car services, and is the preferred service provider for brands like Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Lexus, and more. We look forward to trying out this new feature the next time we use Waze navigation.