The Best and Worst Times to be on the Road this Holiday Season, According to Waze

With the sad state of transportation in the Philippines, it goes without saying that the Christmas season is one of the most stressful times to be on the road. As families leave for holiday trips or reunions in their respective provinces, it is just wise to expect the highways to be more jam-packed than usual during the last week of the year. 

To help drivers and commuters prepare for the impending holiday rush, Waze, the GPS navigation software platform, analyzed their internal data and looked for ways they can outsmart congested roads during the busy season.

The navigation software company looked at the driving patterns of their users particularly during the last week of December last year and sought to find out the traffic flow in four key metro areas in the country: Naga, Angeles, Batangas, and Davao.

They looked at data recorded on December 24-25 and December 31-January 1 and pinpointed the best and worst times to be on the road during these busy days. (see infographic) 

Waze revealed that there was a 10-percent surge in active users of their app during December last year, implying that the increased number of travellers compared to a regular month. These users also recorded a 12-percent increase in the time spent using the app.