Waze Beacons to provide underground mapping in KL – Malaysia is first country in SEA to trial out system

Waze Beacons to provide underground mapping in KL – Malaysia is first country in SEA to trial out system

Waze has announced a new initiative in the country with Kuala Lumpur’s Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) to help drivers in the area move better and stay safe. The map app provider is partnering with TRX City to install Bluetooth-enabled devices, known as Waze Beacons, across TRX’s basement roads leading to car parks within the development.

The beacons are battery-powered transmitters that work by emitting a signal that can aid navigation apps such as Waze, ensuring connectivity is continued underground, effectively providing drivers with seamless navigation in areas where there is limited GPS signal reception.

This will make it easier for drivers to navigate in covered locations with multiple exits and roundabouts within the TRX, as well as offer better visibility of real-time traffic events in surrounding areas. Malaysia is the first country in Southeast Asia to trial out the system, which was launched in 2016 and is currently in use in countries such as the United States, France, Italy and Australia.

The Waze collaboration with TRX has Beacons installed across TRX’s Basements 2 and 3, which have up to three and 21 decision points respectively leading out to parking spaces as well as various connecting roads and highways.

These installments are set to serve as a pilot-scale project for other parts of Kuala Lumpur, according to Gil Disatnik, head of the Waze Beacons program. “Seamless navigation can be enjoyed in TRX when its underground roads are open to the public, but this is just the beginning and we hope to expand into more areas nationwide across Malaysia soon. No matter the navigation apps used, Waze Beacons technology is open and free to use, and we ultimately hope to empower road users to outsmart traffic together,” he said.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • John Minum Teh 8X on Mar 04, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    Such a wonderful Israeli technology. Amazing brains.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 4
    • Actually, it is not purely Israel tech. It is Google tech based on Eddystone protocol. Apple has its iBeacon protocol. The former one can be used by Google Maps or any navigation apps that supports Eddystone, not just Waze.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • potato on Mar 05, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    don’t say underground, it doesn’t even work when you drive below a bridge or flyover.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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