Waze has always used crowd-sourced data to help you avoid traffic jams, now with their latest update of their popular navigation app, they’ll try and help you find lower gas prices, and maybe even get you a couple of pennies knocked off of that price too.
Waze 3.2 now includes real-time gas prices for stations in your vicinity and along your route. Just as Waze lets its 19 million-member community update traffic data, the app will also reflect user-supplied updates on gas prices. (Waze also gets daily price data on fuel from Oil Price Information Service.)
Search for low gas prices by tapping “Navigate”, then selecting the “Categories” button. Tapping on gas stations provides a list of nearby gas prices. You can also update the actual pricing if it differs form the reported price.
Adding gas price data fits in perfectly with the mission of Waze, says Di-Ann Eisnor, the company’s vice president of platform and partnerships. The app launched with the goal of saving its users time by supplying them with the best routes to avoid traffic, construction, and other roadside delays. “We wanted to figure out a way to save you both time and money,” Eisnor said.
The updated app also offers discounts to users at participating gas stations. Using the app, the user can access a coupon for 5 to 10 cents off each gallon of gas. They redeem the coupon by taking their phone into the gas station. (Too bad it doesn’t work at the pump. Does anyone REALLY like going inside?)
Waze estimates 3 percent of the gas stations across the country will be offering discounts to its users within the next few weeks. Waze lists partnerships with Kum & Go, Hess, Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores serving BP and Exxon stations, and Vintners Distributors, which serves Shell stations. The Waze app will indicate participating gas stations with a yellow banner in the search results or with a yellow dollar sign on gas station icons in the app’s map view.
The update is available for free in the App Store.