{"id":3734,"date":"2026-08-28T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/?p=3734"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:34:53","slug":"waze-adds-avoid-takoma-park-option-following-citys-stop-sign-camera-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/28\/waze-adds-avoid-takoma-park-option-following-citys-stop-sign-camera-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Waze Adds ‘Avoid Takoma Park’ Option Following City\u2019s Stop Sign Camera Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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TAKOMA PARK, MD \u2014 Following the city\u2019s decision to double the number of AI-powered stop sign cameras, navigation app Waze announced this week that it has added a new routing option allowing drivers to avoid Takoma Park entirely.

The new feature, listed alongside familiar options such as \u201cAvoid Tolls,\u201d \u201cAvoid Freeways,\u201d and \u201cAvoid Ferries,\u201d is simply labeled \u201cAvoid Takoma Park.\u201d

\u201cWe noticed a significant increase in drivers saying things like, \u2018I\u2019m never driving through Takoma Park again,\u2019\u201d said a Waze spokesperson. \u201cSo we decided to make that an actual button.\u201d

The feature reportedly works by calculating the shortest route around the city, regardless of how much longer it makes the trip.

\u201cNormally, Waze tries to save you time,\u201d the spokesperson explained. \u201cBut in this case, we\u2019ve determined that some users would willingly add 15 minutes to their trip just to avoid the possibility of accidentally rolling through a stop sign at 0.7 miles per hour and getting another $40 ticket in the mail.\u201d

Under the city\u2019s expanded camera program, additional intersections are now equipped with AI technology capable of determining whether a vehicle has come to a complete stop. The technology has already generated widespread concern among residents who fear that merely approaching a stop sign without putting the car in park and turning off the engine could result in a citation.

\u201cI used to use Waze to avoid traffic,\u201d said longtime Takoma Park resident Greg Henderson. \u201cNow I use it to avoid Takoma Park. Honestly, it\u2019s become less of a navigation app and more of an escape plan.\u201d

Waze engineers say they are also considering several additional routing options specifically for Takoma Park residents, including \u201cAvoid Takoma Junction,\u201d \u201cAvoid New Hampshire Avenue,\u201d and \u201cAvoid Wards 3 Through 6.\u201d

While many residents expressed anger over what they called \u201cnanny state\u201d regulations, city officials defended the cameras, saying the goal is to make intersections safer for pedestrians and encourage drivers to follow traffic laws.

\u201cWe understand that many people are upset, and some have threatened to refuse to drive on Takoma Park roads ever again,\u201d said one official. \u201cTo those folks, we say: thank you for proving the new system is working exactly as intended.\u201d

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TAKOMA PARK, MD \u2014 Following the city\u2019s decision to double the number of AI-powered stop sign cameras, navigation app Waze announced this week that it has added a new routing option allowing drivers to avoid Takoma Park entirely. The new feature, listed alongside familiar options such as \u201cAvoid Tolls,\u201d \u201cAvoid Freeways,\u201d and \u201cAvoid Ferries,\u201d is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[2075,2227,2217,114,887,199,822,1420,516,264,2178,95,1735,1009,24,970,1130,916,926,370,237,2104,489,206,368,979,122,141,2069,1387,1729,1593,317,189,640,2078,309,638,1733,1349,339,702,6,116,2201,1028,94,2223,2228,98,1183,1226,542,1647,93,136,2255,1072,2224,4,2,718,2215,716,104],"class_list":["post-3734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-ai","tag-ai-stop-sign-camera","tag-ai-stop-sign-cameras","tag-amazon","tag-bike-lanes","tag-bike-to-work-day","tag-carroll-avenue","tag-cielo-rojo","tag-cnn","tag-co-op","tag-cockerille","tag-comedy","tag-community-vision-for-takoma","tag-dc-humor","tag-dc-satire","tag-dmv-news","tag-dmv-satire","tag-downtown-silver-spring","tag-ethan-allen-avenue","tag-facebook","tag-flower-avenue","tag-free-parking","tag-funny","tag-girl-and-the-vine","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-historic-takoma","tag-humor","tag-infrastructure","tag-instagram","tag-jessica-landman","tag-local-satire","tag-marc-elrich","tag-maryland","tag-maryland-satire","tag-mcdot","tag-moco","tag-moco-satire","tag-montgomery-county-satire","tag-motorkat","tag-netflix","tag-new-hampshire-avenue","tag-news","tag-nimby","tag-nuclear-free-zone","tag-old-town-takoma","tag-parody","tag-pay-speeding-ticket-takoma","tag-pay-takoma-park-ticket","tag-political-satire","tag-r-maryland","tag-real-estate-takoma-park","tag-reddit","tag-roger-schlegel","tag-satire","tag-silver-spring","tag-sligo-creek","tag-soko","tag-speed-cameras","tag-takoma","tag-takoma-park","tag-takoma-park-satire","tag-takoma-park-stop-sign-cameras","tag-takoma-satire","tag-takoma-torch","wpcat-17-id"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paPZSG-Ye","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/takomatorch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260828_1422026462095059879114542.jpg?fit=1812%2C1328&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3734"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3736,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3734\/revisions\/3736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}