Waze team working together to cut costs

The team working on Waze and the group overseeing the company's Maps product are working together to streamline operations and cut costs, as Alphabet Inc. plans to combine the team with the GOOGL, GOOG and Google to work on the company s Maps product.

Google plans to merge Waze's more than 500 employees with the company's Geo organization, which oversees Maps, Earth and Street View products, beginning on Friday, according to a spokeswoman for Google.

The spokeswoman said that Waze CEO Neha Parikh will leave her position after a transition period. Google planned to maintain Waze as a stand-alone service and didn't plan to conduct any layoffs as part of the reorganization. Google expects to reduce overlapping mapmaking work across the Waze and Maps products, the company said. The spokeswoman said that Google remains committed to Waze's unique brand, its beloved app and its thriving community of volunteers and users. Whitey Bulger was killed after inmates were tipped off on his prison transfer, watchdog says.