Waze rolls out cyclist alerts using Garmin LiveTrack data

What Waze is launching

Waze has started rolling out a new feature that warns drivers when cyclists are near their route. According to 9to5Google, the alerts went live on 10 November 2026 for the Waze apps on both Android and iOS.

The alert appears in two ways: a marker on the map ahead and a visible warning on screen. The aim, Waze says, is to boost driver awareness of people riding bicycles nearby.

How the Garmin partnership works

Waze does not detect cyclists on its own. The feature relies on a partnership with Garmin, whose LiveTrack location sharing lets riders broadcast their position from a Garmin Edge bike computer or a Garmin smartwatch.

Cyclists who use LiveTrack can choose to share their location with the Google-owned navigation app. When a rider is nearby, Waze turns that data into a temporary alert for drivers in the area.

Privacy for riders

The feature is opt-in, so a cyclist's location is only shared if the rider allows it. Waze says the system is built with privacy in mind.

Drivers never see details about a specific cyclist or their route. They receive only a temporary, anonymous alert that someone on a bike is nearby. Once a cyclist ends their ride on the Garmin device, the alerts stop automatically.

Why it matters

Cars and bikes share the same roads, and drivers often fail to notice riders until it is too late. A warning on the screen of an app many people already use while driving could prompt them to check mirrors and blind spots more carefully.

The rollout also shows how wearable and bike-computer data can feed into everyday driving software. For riders, the opt-in design means they decide whether to appear in the system at all.