Garmin cyclists can now appear as live alerts in Waze

Garmin has announced a collaboration with the navigation app Waze that puts cyclists on the driver’s screen. Anyone riding with a compatible Garmin Edge bike computer or Garmin smartwatch can share their LiveTrack location during an outdoor cycling activity, and Waze will show it to nearby drivers as a real-time alert.

Garmin calls the partnership a first of its kind. Garmin describes Waze as a community-driven navigation app used by 200 million drivers around the world, which is the audience these alerts are meant to reach.

How it works

LiveTrack is Garmin’s existing live location feature. Until now, a rider could use it to let close family and friends follow their position, speed and course plans. The new part is a second audience: drivers using Waze.

According to Garmin, the sharing is opt-in. A cyclist enables it in Garmin Connect, the company’s companion app, when starting an outdoor ride. Garmin says the sharing is temporary and tied to the session, and that the cyclist’s personal information is not shared or displayed in Waze.

On the Waze side, the feature is called Live Cycling Alerts. According to Garmin, Waze shows a nearby Garmin cyclist as an active, moving icon on the road. A footnote says the feature needs a compatible smartphone and the Garmin Connect app, so the watch or bike computer does not do this alone.

Price and availability

Garmin says LiveTrack is a free feature for owners of a compatible bike computer or smartwatch. Garmin names no qualifying models and no supported countries, and gives no date for Europe. Readers in Europe should check Garmin Connect and Waze for their own region before counting on it.

What the companies say

Susan Lyman, Garmin’s Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing, says the tool is designed to foster a safer riding environment by giving drivers real-time visibility of where cyclists are. Gai Berkovich, VP and GM of Waze, says the aim is to give drivers a heads-up so they can slow down, stay aware and share the road.

Both statements are about intent. Neither company gives data on how drivers react to the alerts or how many cyclists are expected to switch sharing on.