The Best Apps to Beat the Commute

The Best Apps to Beat the Commute

Commuting around Brisbane can turn a good day into a stressful one.

We took a look at three apps that will take the hassle out of your drive to and from work.

You can leave the house in the morning with the best mood, before getting stuck in the morning rush saps that all away. But if in-car technology improves your drive with comfort features like increased connectivity, we went onto our smartphones to find the best apps to make your drive a bit more bearable.

LOOP

Loop is the next generation of audio traffic information giving you traffic reports on demand by just opening this app on your device.

No longer do you have to listen to the radio to get the latest traffic report. Loop provides audio delivered traffic information for your locality or any other location of your choice.

You will receive all relevant traffic information for your area, including updates on traffic congestion, accidents, road conditions, hazards, road closures etc.

Loop is safe to use while driving as you can get your latest traffic report without touching or looking at your screen.

WAZE

Your satellite navigation on your phone or on your car can give you traffic updates, but this usually just means having a red line highlight the routes that you already take.

Waze is an app that utilises community input to let drivers know real-time traffic conditions to avoid obstacles like unexpected traffic, roadworks or crashes. Because it relies on real users as well rather than just the information from traffic monitoring satellites, information is updated more frequently and can be more of a help to drivers on the road.

Helping you out on your commute, Waze has more benefits than just letting you know about potential clogs in the traffic. By shortening your time on the road, as well as offering community based advice on where to get the cheapest fuel, you can even cut down the amount of money you spend on maintaining your car in traffic.​

SNARL

Another traffic app with live updates, Snarl refreshes its map with crashes and hazards that could cause a delay including single vehicle accidents, stationary cars and changed traffic conditions.

Snarl uses traffic cameras to keep track of incidents, reporting them live onto their website and app. This can be helpful in picking out routes that might be congested (especially on longer journeys and coming back from your holidays) before you hit the road.​

FUEL PRICE LOCK

Petrol stations can have different prices, based on discount vouchers, types of fuel and even location – it always seems the more convenient a petrol station is, the more expensive it is.

Instead of driving around to scope out the best prices, why not just get a fixed price and cut out the hassle.

The new 7-Eleven Fuel Price Lock app lets you guarantee a price on your fuel at any 7-Eleven petrol station nearby for up to a week. That means that you can lock in your price before the rush to fill up on Friday or on the weekend, and prepay for the amount of fuel you’re buying.

It works through a pre-loaded card, which can hold funds used solely for your petrol payment. The app searches the five nearest 7-Eleven petrol stations within 250km and then gives you the best price, which you can lock in for up to a week. Fuel price locks are limited to one a week, or until you claim your most recent voucher. Don’t worry if you get to the bowser and there’s a lower price than on your price look – you’ll still pay the lower price per litre, regardless of what you locked in.

Before you set off, make sure you see the expert team of service advisors at Motorama who can check if everything is running smoothly before you get out on to the open road.