PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia is the best place to drive in Asean, according to popular traffic and navigation app Waze.
Globally, it ranked 23 out of 38 countries and 235 cities and towns surveyed under Waze's second annual Driver Satisfaction Index, which measures the overall drivers' experiences.
Malaysia is one of four Asean countries featured in the index. Singapore, Indonesia and The Philippines were ranked 32, 34 and 37 respectively.
Among the 235 cities and towns, Central Malacca was the highest-ranked Malaysian city, coming in at 94 for the driving satisfaction index.
Other cities and towns that followed are Kuala Terengganu (97), Kuala Muda (105), Kota Baru (124), Kuching (131), Kuantan (134), Kuala Lumpur (137), Kinta (138), Batu Pahat (139), Johor Baru (140), Kota Kinabalu (164) and Larut and Matang (166).
Meanwhile, Cebu in The Philippines was listed as the worst place to drive in the world.
According to the Waze, the index focuses on more than 20,000 monthly active users in order to ensure data accuracy and fair market comparisons.
The index measures six factors namely the density of traffic, quality of roads and infrastructure, road safety, availability of driver services, socio economics and Wazeyness (happiness and thankfulness of Waze users).
Waze Malaysia's sales manager Edward Ling Sieak Meeng told The Star Online that the data indicates that Malaysians are "50/50" about their experience on the road.
"Generally we (Malaysians) are not really satisfied. Overall the results show that Malaysians are right in the middle of the ranking," he said adding that drivers were "neither too happy nor too dissatisfied" with driving conditions.
Mr Ling said that overall the index found that Malaysians are most satisfied about road quality while they were mostly unhappy with the availability of driver services such as access to petrol stations and parking facilities.
He added that Malaysia has one of the highest penetrated markets for Waze in the world in terms of Waze users per population, including two million active users in the Klang Valley alone.
Mr Ling said that the index is also a good way to start measuring what road users think and to conduct research on possible areas for improvement.
He pointed out that while users were generally happy with the quality of roads in Malaysia, some had also expressed dissatisfaction and highlighted specific areas for improvement.
