http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-l-a-one-way-to-beat-traffic-runs-into-backlash-1447469058
Ms. Menard’s suburban Los Angeles street of ranch houses, Cody Road, has turned into a thoroughfare with enough gridlock to make Times Square at rush hour feel tranquil. On early mornings when headlights are still needed, it resembles one long funeral procession.
The culprit: Waze, the popular app owned by Alphabet Inc. ’s Google that provides alternate routes to busy boulevards and packed freeways. Launched in 2007, Waze has 50 million users world-wide and about two million in Los Angeles, its biggest U.S. market.
Waze sometimes sends drivers through little-used side streets such as Cody Road. The mile-long hilly street in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood runs parallel to the 405 freeway and leads to Mulholland Drive, through which commuters can make their way from the San Fernando Valley to Beverly Hills, Hollywood and West Los Angeles.
Some people try to beat Waze at its own game by sending misinformation about traffic jams and accidents so it will steer commuters elsewhere. Others log in and leave their devices in their cars, hoping Waze will interpret that as a traffic standstill and suggest alternate routes.
“It’s not really possible to game the system,” said Ms. Mossler, the Waze spokeswoman. Users, she said, will either verify or negate the reports. In addition, Waze will flag chronic posters of bogus information.
To be sure, some Cody Road residents have Waze on their phones. “You certainly can’t turn off technology,” said Mr. Bjerke, who uses the app on occasion. Ms. Menard said she stopped because she didn’t want to be hypocritical.
Among the proposals Ms. Menard wants officials to consider are signs telling drivers they can’t turn onto so-called feeder streets like Cody Road in morning hours, a 25 mile-per-hour speed limit and additional stop signs. Ultimately, the goal is to push drivers to either the 405—which the city recently spent over $1 billion widening—or Sepulveda Blvd., a main street that runs parallel to the freeway.
Ms. Menard’s suburban Los Angeles street of ranch houses, Cody Road, has turned into a thoroughfare with enough gridlock to make Times Square at rush hour feel tranquil. On early mornings when headlights are still needed, it resembles one long funeral procession.
The culprit: Waze, the popular app owned by Alphabet Inc. ’s Google that provides alternate routes to busy boulevards and packed freeways. Launched in 2007, Waze has 50 million users world-wide and about two million in Los Angeles, its biggest U.S. market.
Waze sometimes sends drivers through little-used side streets such as Cody Road. The mile-long hilly street in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood runs parallel to the 405 freeway and leads to Mulholland Drive, through which commuters can make their way from the San Fernando Valley to Beverly Hills, Hollywood and West Los Angeles.
Some people try to beat Waze at its own game by sending misinformation about traffic jams and accidents so it will steer commuters elsewhere. Others log in and leave their devices in their cars, hoping Waze will interpret that as a traffic standstill and suggest alternate routes.
“It’s not really possible to game the system,” said Ms. Mossler, the Waze spokeswoman. Users, she said, will either verify or negate the reports. In addition, Waze will flag chronic posters of bogus information.
To be sure, some Cody Road residents have Waze on their phones. “You certainly can’t turn off technology,” said Mr. Bjerke, who uses the app on occasion. Ms. Menard said she stopped because she didn’t want to be hypocritical.
Among the proposals Ms. Menard wants officials to consider are signs telling drivers they can’t turn onto so-called feeder streets like Cody Road in morning hours, a 25 mile-per-hour speed limit and additional stop signs. Ultimately, the goal is to push drivers to either the 405—which the city recently spent over $1 billion widening—or Sepulveda Blvd., a main street that runs parallel to the freeway.
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