Best traffic apps in Australia (2026): an honest comparison

Navigation and avoiding traffic

WazeLive driver reports and rerouting are the best around. Google Maps is a close second.

Official roadworks, crashes and cameras

Your state's traffic appLive Traffic NSW, QLDTraffic or the VicTraffic website, straight from the road authority. One state each.

Bushfire and emergency warnings in NSW

Hazards Near Me NSWThe NSW Rural Fire Service's app, with warnings on the national three-level scale. NSW only.

Bushfires on the map, anywhere

Google MapsIts bushfire layer, added in 2021, uses fire agency data. Our bushfires page shows the warnings next to the roads they close.

Cheapest fuel

Your state's official price appNo navigation app has confirmed fuel prices in Australia. Our petrol prices pages read the official NSW FuelCheck data (NSW, the ACT and Tasmania).

All of this in one place, from official sources

The Live Roads app (coming soon)Until it arrives, Near you on the home page already shows what is happening around you.

Thirteen things that matter if you drive in Australia. Every cell was checked against each app's official pages and Australian App Store listings on 15 October 2026. Where the official page does not say, we mark it "not confirmed" instead of guessing.

If the question is "what is the fastest way right now", Waze wins. Drivers report crashes, roadworks, hazards and police, and the app reroutes in seconds. In Queensland, QLDTraffic even shows some Waze reports on its own map.

• Strong at: navigation, driver reports, live traffic.
• Limits: unofficial data; no roadworks schedules or official warnings; fuel prices and chargers come with a "not available in all countries" caveat; it links your location and contacts to you.
• Who it is for: daily commuters who want to get there faster.

Google Maps does almost everything reasonably well: navigation, live traffic and closures, public transport with real-time updates in many cities, and since December 2021 a bushfire layer for Australia using fire agency data.

• Strong at: navigation, transport, place search, bushfires.
• Limits: Australian fuel prices and official warnings not confirmed; your location and history are linked to your account.
• Who it is for: most people, as the default app.

On the iPhone, Apple Maps comes preinstalled and covers Australia with turn-by-turn, traffic, incident reporting, speed camera alerts and transit. You do not have to sign in, and Apple uses rotating random identifiers instead of your account.

• Strong at: privacy, navigation, CarPlay.
• Limits: Apple devices only; no documented roadworks, bushfire, fuel or warning features in Australia.
• Who it is for: iPhone users who value privacy.

Live Traffic NSW is run by Transport for NSW's Transport Management Centre, around the clock. It has roadworks with dates and work hours, crashes, floods and snow, cameras that refresh every 60 seconds, NSW Rural Fire Service fire locations and alerts on your saved trips. Its App Store listing shows no data linked to you.

• Strong at: official roadworks, cameras, fires and floods on the roads.
• Limits: NSW only (plus incidents just across the border); no navigation; no fuel prices.
• Who it is for: anyone driving in or into NSW.

QLDTraffic is the Queensland Government's official traffic source: hundreds of planned roadworks with dates, crashes, flooding alerts and web cameras, and a travel mode that reads alerts aloud. The website does more than the app (public transport notices, rain radar and flood cameras), and the app's App Store rating is low.

• Strong at: roadworks with dates, flooding, cameras.
• Limits: Queensland only; no navigation; several extras only on the website.
• Who it is for: Queensland drivers, especially in the wet season.

The VicTraffic app is no longer in the Australian App Store: the Victorian Government now asks people to add the VicTraffic website to their home screen. It shows disruptions on a map, with optional watch areas and notifications if you create an account. (myVicRoads is a different app, for licences and registration.)

• Strong at: official Victorian disruptions and roadworks.
• Limits: Victoria only; no native app; bushfire and transport information not confirmed.
• Who it is for: Victorian commuters.

Hazards Near Me is the NSW Rural Fire Service's app for bushfire, flood and other emergency warnings, on the Australian Warning System's three levels: Advice, Watch and Act, and Emergency Warning. It covers NSW and 50 km beyond the border; it is not national. It also carries severe weather warnings through NSW SES.

• Strong at: official emergency warnings, in the national format.
• Limits: NSW only; not a traffic app; no roads or navigation.
• Who it is for: everyone in NSW, next to a traffic app.

Live Roads Australia is not trying to be a worse Waze. It puts in one place what is spread across several state apps and websites today, read from official sources. The app will do what the website already does, on your phone, with alerts for your places and routes.

What we do better

• Every state's road authority in one place: closures, crashes and roadworks on the live map.
• Bushfire warnings from the fire services that license them, next to the roads they close, and flooded roads.
• Petrol prices from the official NSW FuelCheck data, traffic cameras in NSW and Queensland and the nearest EV charger.
• Privacy: the app keeps only what you choose (places and routes) and does not track where you go.

What we do not do yet

• Turn-by-turn navigation: it comes in a later phase. Until then, use Waze, Google Maps or Apple Maps to drive there.
• Driver reports: our incidents are the ones the agencies publish, not those drivers report.
• Severe weather warnings and public transport disruption: not on the site today, so not in the app at launch.