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Waze Debuts Motorcycle Feature

  • Waze has been updated to include motorcycles.

  • It now obtains real-time information from other motorcycles, rather than automobiles.

  • The developer has said the app will be able to send motorcycles through smaller roads that are inaccessible to cars.

Community-based navigation and traffic app, Waze, has just introduced a motorcycle feature.

Waze is the favourite navigation app among the majority of drivers the world over. It sources real-time data from other drivers before being processed and relayed to other users. For example, if the route you are travelling on experiences a slowdown, the crawling speeds affecting other Waze users will be construed as a traffic jam. The app will then attempt to reroute you through another faster route.

Waze was created as a social navigation tool, after all.

Traffic jam in Penang. Notice the 1 km/h speed!

However, the app has always been based on automobile data since its inception. This creates some problems for bikers as we are able to squeeze through traffic, for instance. Consequently, the estimated time of arrival (ETA) presented to us bikers are virtually incorrect.

Also, motorcycles are able to get through smaller streets and lanes as opposed to automobiles. The new feature should be able to guide us through these shortcuts. We hope it covers motorcycle lanes, too.

To activate the motorcycle feature in, go to Settings, followed by Navigation, the click on Vehicle Type and select “Motorcycle.”

Settings -> Navigation -> Vehicle type -> Motorcycle

We will put it to the test soon and see if it works, and hopeful that it does not send us into a “Waze Daze.”

Wahid's lust for motorcycles was spurred on by his late-Dad's love for his Lambretta on which he courted, married his mother, and took baby Wahid riding on it. He has since worked in the motorcycle and automotive industry for many years, before taking up riding courses and testing many, many motorcycles since becoming a motojournalist. Wahid likes to see things differently. What can you say about a guy who sees a road safety message in AC/DC's "Highway to Hell."

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