Lyft beats Uber to integrating with Waze

Waze tells us that this is a critical pain point for many of its partner-platform drivers, who now toggle between windows on their phone to use a different navigation service besides their employers’. Not only does it give you directions based on Waze users real-time reports of traffic tie ups, it also lets you know where the cops are hiding.

For ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft with tens of thousands of cars on the road, small optimizations can make rides shorter and shareholders richer. This will allow for better Lyft Line matches, where drivers add a passenger while en route to their destination.

Maybe you’ve been there: You’re in a taxi or Uber or Lyft vehicle and the driver is heading straight for a traffic jam, just a few miles ahead. For drivers, switching between the Lyft app and navigation within Waze will now be more seamless.

Lyft today announced that it is one of the launch partners for Waze’s Transport SDK, a brand new software development kit allowing third-party developers to integrate Waze’s offerings into their own apps and services.

“Return to Lyft” Button for Drivers: When navigating with Waze, drivers will be able to press a “Return to Lyft” button that immediately resurfaces the Lyft app. It’s now a simple, smooth transition to switch from Waze navigation back into Lyft to tap the “arrived” or “drop off” button during rides.

Waze is also accepting applications from other companies who are interested in integrating its Transport SDK. What Waze gets in return, however, is increased user data.

Waze has opened up applications to use the SDK for free to any developer.