AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Transportation Department and navigation app Waze are teaming up to give residents real-time road conditions in Austin.

“Because the Waze Connected Citizens Program is powered by residents, this data-sharing partnership is an exciting opportunity for us to connect with residents directly and to gain a deeper understanding of current conditions on a greater scale than with more cost-prohibitive approaches, such as build-in-place detection devices,” Robert Spillar, director of Austin Transportation, said.

Currently, Austin Transportation provides Waze with information on scheduled road closures related to special events. With this information, Waze sends push notifications to its users and reroutes trips close to the closures.

The collaboration is part of the Waze Connected Citizens Program. Waze partners with over 500 organizations worldwide to provide municipal organizations the opportunity to promote two-way data sharing to gain quicker and deeper insights into road safety.

In turn, Austin Transportation’s Transportation Management Center receives up-to-date, anonymous information from Waze about major traffic delays, allowing staff to make targeted signal timing adjustments.