Waze has problems. It navigates users into traffic jams and closed roads

Waze has been having trouble navigating properly for the last month. At the end of October, users from Israel complained about the inaccurate display of traffic jams, and now, according to the Phonearen portal, the application navigates drivers in London on closed roads in parks.

A pandemic is to blame

CEO Waze has admitted that the application currently has algorithm problems, which are partly caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In Israel, the problem began after residents set out again after months of anti-pandemic measures. Thus, roads that had been half-empty for a long time suddenly experienced rush hour traffic again. The algorithm did not have time to adapt to this sudden change and subsequently guided users through routes full of traffic jams.

The origin of the problem reported by the people of London is not yet known. The incident involved a temporarily closed section of road leading through Richmond Park. After several sharply critical tweets from angry Waze users, he confirmed that he would investigate the problem. In the end, however, he said that he did not know about any route problems at the moment and was considering that this was not just a temporary error.

@waze would like to talk to someone about several of the reasons you we’d prefer you not directing drivers down closed roads in a park, what’s the best way to reach you please? pic.twitter.com/EeYCjxYOWS

— The Royal Parks (@theroyalparks) November 19, 2021

Some Twitter users blame The Royal Parks, which manages the park. Another tweet points out that the error does not only affect Waze navigation, but also Google Maps.