Waze your way out of holiday traffic

Christmas is time spent with family and friends. Who can resist the laughter, the stories, the food, and above all, the company? It motivates people to endure tedious traffic to go and be with their loved ones. Nobody loves traffic jams, especially during the Christmas season. Knowing what roads to take or avoid, planning ahead for the best time to leave and the shortest travel time to arrive at a destination is one Christmas treat we all want.

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Waze, the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app,  collected data over the past year and has come up with the date and the hours of the day when traffic is at its worst. The data includes places that increased in traffic during the holiday. In the hands of a seasoned driver, this information will shorten travel time so families can spend more time together.

Worst time and date for driving

In the Philippines, worst day to drive this Christmas will be Friday, Dec 22, as well as in Malaysia and Singapore. As for your return trip to ring in 2018, Waze recommends avoiding the roads between 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec 31, especially if you’re hoping to make it back home in time for your New Year’s Eve party.

Key metros with heavy traffic

With the exception of Angeles City in Pampanga and Naga City in Bicol, most cities with increased traffic volume are found in the southern part of the country. If you have plans to go through these areas, best schedule hitting the road earlier than usual or just go somewhere else to celebrate.

But if staying away from these places is not an option, Waze has a solution – Planned Drive. The function gives drivers the estimated time of departure and arrival.

Christmas tunes for Wazers on Spotify

Earlier this year, Waze and Spotify announced a partnership to bring your favourite Spotify playlists into the Waze app. With the integration in full swing, your commute, road trip or holiday-related traffic jam becomes much more enjoyable, especially as Wazers get into the holiday groove with Spotify!

It’s no surprise that our favorite diva Mariah Carey has topped the list with All I Want for Christmas Is You.

Top 5 Most Popular Christmas Songs for Wazers on Spotify

1. “All I Want For Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey
2. “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé
3. “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande
4. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – 2010 Digital Remaster” by John Lennon
5. “Last Christmas – Remastered” by Wham!

Trip to the North Pole: PH Ranks Slowest^[1]

In the unfortunate event that Santa’s sleigh breaks down, Waze can help plan your trip from Philippines to the North Pole to get your gifts. Based on Filipinos’ average driving speed, it will take about 22 days to reach Santa’s house. In APAC, Philippines is ~1,400km closer to the North Pole than Singapore, yet Filipino drivers take eight more days to get there. Globally, Italian drivers are among the fastest in the race to the North Pole.

In a race based on Days to NP at 100kph and Days Added Due to Region Speed, Waze ranked the Philippines, followed by Australia and Brazil as the three Slowest Countries, while USA, Italy, and France, no surprise there, as the three Fastest Countries to reach the North Pole.

^{[1] Waze data, Global, December 2016 and NOAA Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculator}.^{Given that many cities do not have an express lane to the North Pole, this is an estimate based on average time and distance per drive to calculate average speed in the origin location. Distances to the North Pole are calculated from the capital “as the crow flies.” This estimate is not based on actual route requests on Waze.}