"Ghost traffic jams"

[CBenson]

I don't presume to know exactly how waze makes the determination, but would it not make sense, that waze could tell the difference if a car came to a stop, moved 5 feet, stopped, moved 5 feet, stoped vs car coming to a complete stop and sitting there for 5,10,15 minutes whatever, and then continuing on it's way?

Although isn't this the exact driving behavior if you are at a drive thru window at a fast food restaurant?

And isn't the other driving behavior the exact behavior if you are on the freeway when the accident in front of you causes the car to burst into flames and the road is shut down?

[fvwazing]

Hey, nobody said it would be easy. Add to all that the brownian movement caused by a GPS-inaccuracies and you see a fine mess...

However, if I switch navigation OFF when I am in a gasstation next to the freeway my car-icon - glued to the freeway at first - jumps to the correct location and no jam occurs. So, maybe it is enough to use the improved accuracy that the latest generation of smartphones have, and combine that with a bit of heuristics (as in: "if I am standing still BETWEEN a freeway and a parking, chances are higher that I am standing still ON the parking.")

Good to see things are moving in this field, I may generate 1 or 2 of my favorite jams tonight and send them in.

[nnote]

https://www.waze.com/editor/?zoom=7&lat ... TTTTTTTTFT

At this drive through, waze used to keep me snapped to the nearest road to the west and cause 'ghost traffic jams'. Ever since I put a parking lot road in the drive through and left it disconnected from the nearest roads, I've never had the problem since. When I leave the road and start through the drive through, waze knows I'm there and since it's parking lot road it doesn't say there's a traffic jam in the drive through either. I've done this in drive through's all around my area and it cut down on auto generated map errors and false traffic jams substantially. So, basically I've solved this issue in my area.

[gettingthere]

https://www.waze.com/editor/?zoom=7&lat=33.35092&lon=-111.82369&layers=BFTFTTTFTTFTTTTTTTTTFT

At this drive through, waze used to keep me snapped to the nearest road to the west and cause 'ghost traffic jams'. Ever since I put a parking lot road in the drive through and left it disconnected from the nearest roads, I've never had the problem since. When I leave the road and start through the drive through, waze knows I'm there and since it's parking lot road it doesn't say there's a traffic jam in the drive through either. I've done this in drive through's all around my area and it cut down on auto generated map errors and false traffic jams substantially. So, basically I've solved this issue in my area.

What happens when you are on one of these parking lots roads and start a new route?

[nnote]

Waze just tells me to (I forget exact phrase) "proceed to highlighted route" and starts the purple marked route on the nearest actual road.

[jenncard]

Yesterday I spent 10 minutes at a gas station (no parking lot road, so I was snapped to the adjacent minor hwy).
NO jam created!

[gettingthere]

Yesterday I spent 10 minutes at a gas station (no parking lot road, so I was snapped to the adjacent minor hwy).
NO jam created!

With our understanding of the 'lowest 50 meters' traffic filter (may or may not still be relevant), if your gas station adventure didn't have you snapped to the adjacent road and travelling more than 50 meters, your speed data should have been disregarded - no jam created.

Although who knows if Waze has already made change(s) to the traffic algorithm or is just trying to get some examples so that they can make a future change.

This week I have noticed that is seems that legitimate traffic jams on the freeways are now not being generated in some cases - even when placing a manual traffic jam report that is supposed to make the automated jams 'more sensitive / double weight'.

So if Waze has already made some changes to help avoid false jams from being created, it also appears that they may be now affecting legitimate jams that should be created.

[jenncard]

With our understanding of the 'lowest 50 meters' traffic filter (may or may not still be relevant), if your gas station adventure didn't have you snapped to the adjacent road and travelling more than 50 meters, your speed data should have been disregarded - no jam created.

I forgot about that. There is an "understanding " that no jams are created at 50 meters around a junction, right

[AlanOfTheBerg]

I am frequently seeing, in the wee morning hours now, jams on my local roadways. There are no wazers around that I can see, yet I often get a jam along segments of a local highway which runs through town as well as some side streets. This appears to be highly suspicious and incorrect, just as has been reported previously after middle-of-the-night fake traffic jams.

[jasonh300]

I forgot about that. There is an "understanding " that no jams are created at 50 meters around a junction, right

If this was the case, you'd never get a jam anywhere in a dense downtown type area where the blocks are only 100 m. Or maybe my idea of 100m is distorted.

How big is a city block?