Waze, the platform bringing together communities on and off the road, is today announcing a new initiative in Kuala Lumpur’s Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) to help drivers in Kuala Lumpur move better and stay safe.
Waze is partnering with TRX City Sdn Bhd to install Bluetooth®-enabled hardware devices – Waze Beacons – across TRX’s basement roads leading to car parks in the development. The program – which is inaugural for Southeast Asia – will aim to leverage Bluetooth® connectivity underground and provide seamless navigation to drivers where there is limited GPS signal reception. This will help ensure better location services, increased driver safety, and better visibility of real-time traffic events while driving underground in TRX.
“We are thrilled to partner with Waze, to be the first in Southeast Asia to put Waze Beacons to the test. Our underground roads are an ideal test ground as they lead out to key exits, and we look forward to enhancing TRX’s level of services. Ensuring seamless connectivity is critical to support TRX’s status as an international financial hub.” said Dato’ Azmar Talib, CEO of TRX City Sdn Bhd.
“The Waze Beacons Program will help realise the TRX master plan of making the district the best-connected address in Kuala Lumpur. The development will have direct access to major highways such as the SMART Tunnel, Maju Expressway (MEX) and the future Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway (SPE), as well as connections to Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Sultan Ismail via many ingress and egress points,” Dato’ Azmar added.
“The Waze team and I are pleased to bring the Waze Beacons Program to Malaysia, the first Southeast Asian country to adopt the technology,” said 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.”
Waze Malaysia Country Lead, Kelvin Sim echoed a similar sentiment, “It is exciting to bring the Beacons program to Malaysia, and this represents a tremendous milestone for the country and for Southeast Asia. Through Waze Beacons, we hope to reduce drivers’ hesitation and confusion stemming from signal loss, and reduce traffic congestion and frustration on the road.”
The Waze Beacons, installed and owned by TRX City, do not collect data and work by emitting a signal that can aid navigation apps including Waze, making it easier for drivers to navigate underground areas with multiple exits and roundabouts during periods of poor connection, and prevent traffic confusion and congestion. The signals are available for use by all developers looking to make it easier and safer to get around TRX.
Waze’s collaboration with TRX has seen these devices installed across TRX’s Basements 2 and 3 which have up to 3 and 21 decision points respectively leading out to parking spaces, and various connecting roads and highways. These installments are set to serve as a pilot-scale project for other parts of Kuala Lumpur. Waze Beacons was launched in 2016, and has successfully rolled out in countries such as the USA, Brazil, France, Italy, Australia, Norway, and Czech Republic totalling at roughly 260 km of tunnels and roadways worldwide. For more information on the Waze Beacons Programme, check out this link.
