It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! What a wonderful time indeed! Sometimes, the downside to the upcoming holidays is the travelling. With the year-end celebrations starting, wouldn’t it be great to take the headache out of travelling for the holidays? This year, Waze wants to make travelling for Christmas and the year-end a little less stressful, so here are the top 3 tips for Malaysian drivers!
Tip 1. Choose Non-Peak Periods to Travel
You know that feeling when you drive down an empty road with your family while listening to your favourite holiday song and life seems so smooth until a traffic jam shatters that iconic moment. How annoying is that, right? With Waze, you don’t have to worry anymore. Based on travel statistics from 2016, Waze predicts that traffic conditions will start to worsen on Friday, 22nd December between the time of 1 pm and 3 pm.
Here are some of the worst time to drive nationally:
DAY & DATE |
TIME |
Fri Dec-22 (The Worst Day to Travel) |
1PM – 3 PM |
Sat Dec-23 |
5PM – 7 PM |
Sun Dec-24 |
12PM – 2 PM |
Mon Dec-25 |
12PM – 2 PM |
Tue Dec-26 |
2PM – 4 PM |
Wed Dec-27 |
1PM – 3 PM |
Thu Dec-28 |
1PM – 3 PM |
Fri Dec-29 |
12PM – 2PM |
Sat Dec-30 |
3PM – 5 PM |
Sun Dec-31 |
12PM – 2 PM |
Mon Jan-1 |
12PM – 2 PM |
Tue Jan-2 |
2PM – 4 PM |
Source: Waze data, Insights based on total drivers per hour, December 2016.
Another way to avoid peak travel periods is to schedule your drive with Waze’s Planned Drive function. All you have to do is follow these simple steps:
- Tap the Menu.
- Tap the Planned tab.
- Tap the plan icon to add a drive.
- Search for your destination in the Search bar
- Choose the time and date at which you’d like to arrive at your destination and then tap Save.
- Once you’ve set a future drive, you’ll see it appear in the Menu panel under Planned. You can also choose a more convenient route and avoid high traffic areas.
Tip 2. Avoid Area With Extra Traffic
Those travelling outside of Kuala Lumpur during this period should also take note of the top 5 states known to have seen a large increase in traffic during the year-end holiday period, especially, Malacca, which had a 1.3 times increase. With most Christians and visitors flock to the historical city of Malacca to either visit the Portuguese Settlement or visit the St.Peter’s church.
States that see Largest Increase in Traffic:
STATE |
INCREASE IN TRAFFIC |
Malacca |
1.3x |
Perak |
1.2x |
Kuala Terengganu |
1.2x |
Sarawak |
1.2x |
Sabah |
1.1x |
Source: Waze data, Insights based on total drivers per hour, December 2016.
Tip 3. Have a Merry Song-Filled Journey
A road trip just isn’t as festive without music and those returning to their hometowns or taking a trip across the city can include a little Christmas cheer with the Spotify integration within Waze. By simply linking a Spotify account to Waze on your Android or iOS device, your favourite music playlist from Spotify can autoplay at a click of a button when you begin a trip on Waze.
Here’s some suggestion of songs to get you into the mood;
Have a merrier ride this holiday and try out Waze for yourself! You can download the Waze app today in the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store today. For more information, please visit www.waze.com.