A 74-mile long traffic jam is just the latest in a string of problems confronting the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But with the Opening Ceremony taking place on Friday, the show must go on. If you’re trying to make your way around the site of this year’s Olympics, you might want to try using Waze, which was recently updated and enhanced for those driving around in Brazil.
As one of the oldest and largest Waze communities in the world, Brazil has long held a special place in the navigation app’s heart. “Brazilian map editors were among the earliest to contact Waze and work closely with staff to grow the volunteer map editor program into an active, vibrant community … over the past eight years,’ reads a blog post for the Google-owned app. And with more than 500,000 visitors slated to attend the Olympics over the next couple weeks and more than 800,000 monthly Waze users driving in Rio, app developers say that they “jumped at the chance to help residents and visitors alike show their team pride and make their way around the city as safely as possible.”
If you’re looking to attend an event or trying to avoid those 74 miles of traffic, you can visit http://www.waze.com/rio to examine real-time conditions at six critical intersections across the city. Waze will show you how to get from Point A to Point B in the most efficient way possible, and it’ll now ensure that you have as much insight into the driving conditions in the city as possible.
If you’re not going to be in Rio for the Olympics, you can still pretend that you’re there in some capacity. Use the new sports voice navigator known as “The Coach,” available in both English and Portuguese, to guide you to your final destination. To activate, tap Menu, then Settings, then Voice Language, and finally The Coach (in Portuguese or English).
