The City of Toronto is now sharing real-time data with popular traffic app Waze.

Speaking at a news conference Monday, Mayor John Tory said starting today, the city and Waze will be sharing traffic data to help drivers avoid congestion and construction and help the city better understand traffic patterns.

“This partnership will give our Traffic Operations Centre… better visibility into traffic patterns and give users of the Waze application enhanced information so that they can plan,” Tory said.

“By using Waze, all motorists will have access to the City of Toronto’s data in real time and be able to avoid road closures, construction, and traffic jams.”

It is estimated that more than 560,000 drivers in Toronto use the app, which Tory said is the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation application.

More than a dozen other Canadians cities have already partnered with Waze.

“We are not the first, we should have been at this before now, but we are now joining cities like Winnipeg, Boston, Los Angeles who are already partnering with Waze,” Tory said.

The partnership with Waze is part of a previously announced set of measures the city is implementing to help curb traffic congestion in Toronto.

“Over the last three years we have finally focused on fighting traffic in Toronto and improving commute times,” Tory said Monday.

“The problem is one that didn’t happen overnight nor will it be solved overnight but step by step, initiative by initiative, including the one today, we are determined to build on the progress that we have made over the last three years.”