Waze CEO Noam Bardin: “We can make traffic go away.”

What do you do when your traffic app has nowhere else to go, literally?  According to Waze CEO Noam Bardin, all the shortcuts have been maximized. Bardin stated that the only way to continue fighting traffic is to reduce the number of cars on the road.

He made the point clearer by playing a video about a new product, Waze Carpool.

Waze is a mobile traffic application that drivers have been using for over seven years. Bardin arrived during the first year and has led the company since that time. Wall Street Journal writer Jack Nicas interviewed  Bardin at the Startup Grind Global conference.  See the full video here and the highlights below. 



“If you can convince drivers to leave cars at home, you can actually get to free-flowing traffic.”

​The main point of the video reminded the audience that most cars have one or more unused seats. Thanks to Uber and Lyft, the social challenge of riding in a stranger’s car is less of a challenge now.  What Waze Carpool would like to do is point-to-point transit for a cost like public transit. The carpool would be more convenient because it is direct. According to Bardin, drivers are asked to go slightly out of their way to make that connection.

Waze Carpool is not another taxi service, though. In fact, if you try to make it a service job, you will lose money as a driver. The app is designed so drivers can only make money for two rides a day, going to work and returning home. The riders share the cost with the driver. Bardin pointed out “If you’re driving anyway, it’s free money.”

“You can save the world without too much hassle and make a little money while you do it.”

Bardin listed several incentives to be a part of Waze Carpool as a rider:

1.      Cars are expensive and not all areas have public transit.

2.      Save time.

3.      Allows people to help out other people.

That last point is especially important. People are not only helping out other people, they are building micro-communities. The app even encourages drivers to pick up the same people. Bardin mentioned that there are few times where you can meet people who are not from your work or circle. Riding with the same people who happen to live and work near you leads to the micro-communities.

Creating micro-communities

To date, Waze has 80 million users representing the number of drivers. Bardin wants to convert some of those current Waze drivers to become riders. Carpooling has been a hassle to navigate. A serious inconvenience. Bardin stated carpooling has been something encouraged since the 1950’s. Waze drivers already understand the value of the application. The measure of success for carpooling is the retention amount. As a part of Google, they have had the luxury of taking their time with testing Waze Carpool. Will it succeed?

Conclusion

The example may prove how great the need is. Bardin received an email from the mayor of a small town in Ohio. The mayor had read a Wall Street Journal article about Waze Carpool. In the email, the mayor requested to have his town be the pilot. With a population of 83,000 and no public transit in the Ohio town, Bardin commented that this is who he wants to help.

Unlike Silicon Valley, the small towns do not offer many options. Further, when there are three shift factory jobs, public transit is not good enough. Waze Carpool could bring together the people who are already making those daily drives. Waze Carpool could be the resource to travel more efficiently and free-flowing.