How can real-time data and community collaboration be leveraged to enhance crisis response and build long-term resilience during major environmental disasters? How can technology contribute to sustainable practices during emergencies?

During the Greater Los Angeles wildfires, Waze, through the Waze for Cities program, played a critical role in supporting emergency response and fostering community resilience. Our collaboration helped achieve key objectives to:

• Minimize unnecessary travel and fuel consumption during evacuation.
• Strengthen community resilience through collaborative data sharing.
• Utilize data-driven insights for future disaster preparedness.
• Provide real-time information for shelter locations and evacuation zones.

By leveraging real-time data, fostering community collaboration, and focusing on sustainable practices, Waze contributed to a more resilient and efficient response to the Greater LA wildfires.

Impact

To enhance resilience and minimize the environmental impact of the crisis, the partnership:

• Provided real-time road closure information for over ±5,000 segments, impacting 177,500 drives and reducing carbon emissions.
• Distributed 32 shelter locations via push notifications to 2.5 million drivers, facilitating efficient evacuations and minimizing fuel use.
• Facilitated collaboration between Waze, 7 local community editors, Genesys (Zonehaven), and CalOES, enhancing disaster preparedness.
• Enabled community editors to validate critical information, including open and closed locations like veterinary clinics and gas stations.
• Utilized data on road closures, evacuation patterns, and resource needs to inform future urban planning and disaster preparedness strategies.
• Shared fresh satellite imagery through the Waze Map Editor (WME) via the PNEO layer, informing fire prevention strategies.
• Added 29 Food Distribution Centers (World Central Kitchen) and 2 FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers.
• Shared 195 Evacuation Zones (Genesys Zonehaven) viewed by 17.1K drivers.