Setting Up Commute Time and Notifications in Home Assistant

General
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Hi everyone! I wanted to share my experience setting up a commute time card and notifications in Home Assistant. I’ve been using Home Assistant for a while now, and I’m really impressed with its flexibility and the vast community support.

I recently moved to a new city and wanted to optimize my morning routine. My goal was to add a card showing the commute time to work and receive a notification on my phone 10 minutes before I need to leave. I tried using Waze and HERE travel time integrations, but it wasn’t straightforward at first. After some research and experimentation, here’s what worked for me:

  1. Integration Setup: I installed the Waze integration in Home Assistant. It was surprisingly easy, just a matter of enabling it in the integrations section. I made sure my Waze account was properly linked.

  2. Travel Time Sensor: I created a custom sensor using the Waze travel time data. This sensor calculates the time it takes to get from my home to my workplace. I used the sensor.waze_travel_time entity and set it up to update every 15 minutes.

  3. Notification Automation: I set up an automation that triggers 10 minutes before my scheduled departure time. It uses the notify service to send a push notification to my phone. I also included the current commute time in the notification message so I know how much time I have.

  4. UI Customization: I added the travel time sensor to my main dashboard. I used a template card to display it in a clean, readable format. This way, I can quickly glance at my commute time without navigating through multiple menus.

  5. Testing and Adjustments: I tested the setup for a week, tweaking the automation timing and notification messages to suit my preferences. It’s great how Home Assistant allows for such fine-tuning!

This setup has made my mornings much less stressful. I no longer worry about leaving too late or getting stuck in traffic without knowing. I hope this helps someone else looking to optimize their commute with Home Assistant!

If anyone has tips or alternative methods, I’d love to hear them. Happy automating! :rocket: