If you frequently drive around Metro Manila and rely on Waze for directions, then you might have noticed that the navigation app has been recommending routes that are an hour longer than your usual ETA.
In a Facebook post by concerned motorist Apa Ongin, he said that he recently found out that his Waze has been “misbehaving” lately by directing him to routes that are “2x or 3x longer than the obvious.”
This odd behaviour of what we (some of us) mistake as a glitch is actually a Waze update that is quite ‘helpful’ in avoiding a hefty traffic violation, because it supposed to help motorists navigate through the restricted zones in Metro Manila that is under the number-coding scheme.
You might have seen a few of these warning signs at the centre of your screen before, reminding you that your destination will be crossing the license restricted zones. If you decide to ignore this by tapping the close button, then Waze would automatically come up with alternative routes that have longer ETAs.
Ongpin offered a simple solution.
Just head to the app’s settings and tap the ‘car details’ then select taxi under the ‘vehicle type’ options. After doing so, your Waze should be back to normal.
Alternatively, you can simply type the last two digits of your license plate so Waze could determine if you’d be driving on a coding day and in need of a bit of detour.