A Waze update launching Wednesday adds the ability for users to report closed roads on the social GPS service, in real-time. It enables them to help others navigate around areas that might be temporarily shut down for obstructions such as a street fair, road construction and even damage from a hurricane or tornado.

Along with the update, Waze also announced it has reached 40 million active users a day — 10 million of which are in the United States.

The Power of the Crowd

Waze’s users are really where the service gets its power; the app applies data from members to help others find the best route possible to get to their destination. Users can also report traffic jams, accidents and hazards to help others avoid them.

During Hurricane Sandy, the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency asked Waze to help New York residents get around. While its road-closure feature wasn’t live then, the app was still able to locate available gas stations for residents — a feature that it added last June. If this new feature been available during Sandy, however, drivers could have also helped each other navigate around flooded and damaged areas.

“The fact that my phone shows me what my friends are having for breakfast across the world in real-time, but the maps on it don’t reflect a major intersection around the corner has been closed for three months due to construction, was a clear indication to us that something needed to change,” said Waze CEO, Noam Bardin.

“The only way to address this problem at a large scale is through the power of the community working together. “

When a Waze user reports a road closure, the app will remove the road from that specific driver’s map, but the road will remain open for all other users. But if more people report the same closure, then Waze will label the road closed, and start navigating all users away from it. For smaller roads, it may take just a few people to create a closure, while for larger roads and freeways, many more would need to file reports.

Once a single Waze user drives through a closed area, the block will be removed automatically.

More Than Just an App Update

Waze’s update means a lot for individual users; but, it’s also a big deal for states. The Georgia Department of Transportation currently uses Waze to power some of its road signage. So, for example, when you see that sign that says it’s going to take 20 minutes to get to the airport, Waze is behind it. The road-closure feature can help those signs become even more accurate, informing governments about when streets are unexpectedly blocked, so they can direct traffic accordingly.

Waze is also currently used at 25 television stations, which consults the app's road-closure information to better inform viewers about traffic problems.

What's more, Waze also allows you to connect with friends, providing turn-by-turn directions to a buddy that you're trying to pick up, or the ETA of a friend you're meeting for coffee.

Want to join the crowd-sourced GPS community? Waze is available now for free for iOS and Android.

Image Courtesy of Flickr, Yuga Sekiguchi