Waze responds to El Dorado County about South Lake Tahoe westbound traffic issues

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Traffic is nothing new in South Lake Tahoe and Meyers, but Sunday traffic leaving Lake Tahoe has become worse once tech-savvy drivers learned how to navigate side roads. Residents cannot leave their homes for fear they won't be able to get back for hours, and drivers trying to make it back to Sacramento and the Bay Area get frustrated with standstill hours-long lines.

There have been community meetings, and recently El Dorado County CAO Don Ashton and Barton Memorial Hospital CEO Clint Purvance wrote a letter to Google, asking for help in addressing the situation which many blame on navigation apps leading drivers off the highway and into neighborhoods to get home across Echo Summit.

"Waze takes its role seriously as the connector and convener between cities, citizens, and companies," said Thais Blumenthal de Moraes of Waze in response to that letter. "We want to empower everyone to improve mobility together."

Blumenthal de Moraes invited El Dorado County to join their Connected Citizens Program which seeks to improve traffic conditions and mobility. She said they have partnered with over 900 municipalities, Departments of Transportation, first responders, and nonprofits in many countries to identify issues created by congestion.

According to their website, the Connected Citizens Program seeks to make data-driven infrastructure decisions, reduce traffic congestion, increase the efficiency of incident response, and provide real-time information on what is happening on the roads.

"Waze was designed to thoughtfully and carefully reduce traffic by directing drivers away from places that are already congested – not to send everyone down the same route, which would make traffic worse," a Waze spokesperson told South Tahoe Now. "The root of the problem is too many cars on the road; Waze will never create a traffic jam where one doesn't already exist. The Waze routing algorithm optimizes route planning by taking a number of factors into account - driver input, road conditions, real-time speeds, historical traffic data and more - to direct drivers to the most efficient route."

They said their algorithm and ultimately the Waze map will reflect laws, road regulations and restrictions for the area.

"If the governing body deems a road as public and navigable, it will be used for routing as needed for the benefit of everyone," said the Waze spokesperson. "We're always happy to work with cities and municipalities to improve driving conditions for all, and we have a history of doing so through our Waze Connected Citizens Program which empowers partners with free tools and data so they can make better planning decisions."

El Dorado County is joining the group even though Waze has made it clear they won't change their algorithms or refrain from routing to certain roads.

"Our position has always remained consistent: local government has the authority and responsibility to set driving laws and travel restrictions, not Waze or any other navigation app. If the local government decides on a specific speed limits, one-way traffic designation or time based turn restrictions, the Waze map will reflect that reality. But if the governing body deems a road as public and navigable, it will used for routing as needed for the benefit of everyone," said the Waze spokesperson.

In the meantime there is a meeting in Placerville on Monday to work on immediate solutions for the traffic jams in Meyers which occur on every Sunday as visitors attempt to leave the area. Local resident Kenny Curtzwiler has been advocating GPS uploads that would prevent Waze from showing neighborhood roads as routes to get to Echo Summit. Curtzwiler, the County, CHP, Caltrans will all be at the meeting to seek relief for residents.

Read more on his solution here: http://southtahoenow.com/story/02/17/2019/letter-solution-meyers-traffic-problems.