A COUNCIL partnership with a traffic smartphone app could help tackle congestion once the Westgate opens by telling drivers which routes to avoid into Oxford.

Oxfordshire County Council has become the second authority in the UK - after Transport for London - to pair up with Waze to share real-time data.

Drivers using the app - which works as a sat nav - passively give information using GPS and can report crashes and roadworks which are then passed onto other drivers.

The council approached Waze ahead of the Westgate shopping centre opening in October which will bring 2,000 extra daily journeys into the city.

Head of Waze UK, Finlay Clark, said it would be a crucial step in tackling congestion in and around the city over the coming years.

He said: “Budgets are being cut in local authorities around the country and we need to find more innovative ways to reduce congestion.

“Oxford has a very big development coming, in the Westgate, and this is a public/private partnership which could benefit everyone.

“This is the second UK partnership and globally we have 175 partners and have reduced congestion in some of the busiest cities such as Rio and Jakarta - the Oxford team are very forward thinking.”

Mr Clark also said the data had been used by some local authorities to influence city planning and the building of new roads.

The partnership would see Waze share its real-time driver data with Oxfordshire County Council in return for data on construction work and road closures that might hold up traffic.

Last year the app made it impossible for drivers to type while on the move and collisions and roadworks can be reported by voice.

The county council’s board member for transport David Nimmo Smith said: “We are very excited to partner with Waze to identify incidents and congestion hotspots in real-time thus allowing users to make more intelligent journey choices.

“We hope to welcome thousands more people with the launch of Westgate and this is part of the solution to reduce congestion in Oxford.

“This is about Oxfordshire County Council being at the forefront of using data effectively and tapping into our unprecedented knowledge base of traffic and real-time driver insights to improve congestion in the area.”