Waze app aims to make it easier to find parking spots

Rush hour traffic winds its way along a narrow street in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014. (AP / Richard Vogel)

Drivers waste up to 55 hours a year looking for somewhere to park their car.

Popular navigation app Waze is teaming up with INRIX to take the stress out of finding a parking lot a lot closer to your final destination.

It doesn't matter how good the active safety and assistance features are on current cars if you can't take advantage of them. A host of 2016 model-year vehicles can park themselves in a parallel or perpendicular space while simultaneously keeping an electronic eye out for on-coming traffic.

However, if you can't find a parking space in the first place, the systems are redundant. And according to the latest Frost and Sullivan data, the average driver is currently wasting 55 hours a year looking for a parking space and that equates to a staggering $600 million in lost time and burned fuel in the US and Europe.

Waze already offers a list of parking lots sourced from its user community but by partnering with INRIX the app will now have a comprehensive list of facilities throughout Europe and North America.

"Driving from point A to B is only part of the journey," said Alex Israel, vice president and general manager of parking at INRIX. "The addition of INRIX Parking enhances Wazers' end-to-end driving experience."

INRIX is one of the world leaders in connecting cars and is leveraging that information for insights on everything from congestion to parking. Its technology is appearing as standard in a host of carmakers' ranges, from BMW to Volvo. This initial coming together will only provide Waze users with navigation to car parks closest to their destination, but INRIX also has dynamic solutions that offer real-time information about pricing and use -- i.e., how many spaces are available at a facility -- plus algorithms that can calculate which on-street parking areas are the most and least likely to be in use.

"Driving around looking for spots impacts arrival times and adds unneeded frustration and stress to the entire driving experience," said Flavia Sasaki Siqueira, Head of Business Development for Waze. "Combining INRIX parking information with our own parking database expands reach and accuracy of the 'where to park' feature."