Walking paths

[Czzzar]

Sounds odd, but people could input pathways and sidewalks? where I live a sidewalk will end abruptly and no way to cross the street but to jaywalk a 4 lane road... Could be cool to see, and I'm sure it'd be useful in other ways.

[AndyPoms]

Generally, if a road can't be driven on (e.g. Walking Trail, Pedestrain Boardwalk, Stairway, Railroad, Runway/Taxiway) then it should not be mapped in Waze. This is due to the way the routing engine works, as Waze WILL route users to drive on these "Non-Driveable" road types.

Also, Waze should ONLY be uses while traveling in a vehicle - as using it while walking (or riding a bicycle) as it will send bad data to Waze (and create false traffic jams).

[ArlenBystander]

Yes, people could, and have mapped walkways, bicycle paths, railroads, dirt trails, etc. The road types (like the landmark types) were inherited from the base map source. Most of them are not useful for Waze's intended use and in some cases can be harmful/dangerous.

The problem with any type of path or road is that Waze will attempt to route traffic onto it if the segments are connected and Waze thinks there is a better route using that segment. It doesn't matter if one segment is a street and the next segment is a railroad or a walking path.

This causes problems when walking paths or railway lines are mapped and then connected to "real" streets.

The recommendation is to not draw anything that traffic (i.e. motor vehicles) should not / cannot be routed on unless it is needed to fix another problem. One such problem is with commuter rail lines when people either forget to turn off Waze or try to earn point by Wazing while riding the train. This causes false traffic data when Waze snaps the user's route to the adjacent roads. As a result, there are specific practices used for mapping the railroad to ensure no rail segment connects with a drivable segment.

I see no practical reason to map a sidewalk. Trails/paths within a forest preserve or park are a grey area. They don't provide any useful purpose for motor vehicles but there are people who traverse the trails while Waze is running so can suppress errors.