If you are a touring musician and you put any time on the road, this is the app for you. WAZE by Google is one of the world’s largest FREE community-based traffic and navigation apps. You are Joined by drivers in your area who share real-time traffic & road info to save time, gas money, and improve almost any tour.

What is amazing about this app besides being a fantastic GPS navigation system, Just by driving with Waze open, you’re automatically contributing tons of real-time traffic info to the WAZE community. But if you are so inclined (and it’s safe to do), You can also actively report accidents, police traps and other hazards you see on the road. When others report these types of traffic conditions you get automatic road alerts on your route, traffic reports and find the lowest gas prices around you and so much more, shared by the community. Plus, Waze makes it easy to keep up with friends and contacts on the go. You can even send someone a ETA from Waze and the app will update that person with where you are and your estimated time of arrival automatically! Say goodbye to pesky texts and calls (“leaving now,” “Stuck in traffic,” Almost there!”) and let Waze do the work for you.

Now I have been testing this app against my Tom Tom, which also has traffic alerts built in, and I have to say I am about to retire the Tom Tom for good. The routes selected by WAZE were more intuitive and were based on real time traffic data. Many times Waze reported traffic and the Tom Tom had nothing! The information I got from Waze, was extremely accurate and timely. For example we were on a tour driving from Ohio to Kentucky when the Waze app informed us there was “An Object in the Road”. Not more than 1 min later we came upon a truck tire that had torn off and was, sure enough, in the middle of the road! You not only get information on upcoming traffic, you also can get reasons for the traffic through reports or “MapChats”. Waze can also route you around the traffic if it finds a route that will save you time.

Now, there is some fun aspects of this App, you gain points for each report you make through the app, gaining status as you go (Hey I got my sword and working on a shield). This can be a great way to stay alert while on the road, looking for things to report and gain more points.

One of the great options we found was the MapChat, when we arrived at the gig location, we placed a “MapChat” at that location with the information for that gig. Other Waze users will see that Chat and when they click on it they will get all the information about the gig as well as a picture! Talk about on the spot marketing!

Waze can connect with your facebook and other social media to create a friends list where you can chat or send “Beep Beeps” to them while on the road (though texting is discouraged unless you are a passenger).

Some of the other great things this app can do for you is:

– Live routing based on community driven, real-time traffic & road info
– Community reported alerts including accidents, hazards, police traps, road closures, and more
– Turn-by-turn voice guided navigation
– Live maps, consistently edited and updated by Waze community map editors
– Automatic rerouting as conditions change on the road
– Learns your frequent destinations, commuting hours, and preferred routes
– Find the cheapest gas station on your route
– Add contacts as friends on Waze
– See friends’ ETA when driving to the same destination
– Send automatic updates on your location & ETA
– One tap navigation to Facebook & Calendar events
– Earn points to climb the ranks in your community as you contribute road info

Waze is all about contributing to and benefiting from the common good, so hop on board and get involved! Click the Waze Icon to find out more, or go to your Google Play Store to install.