Does Waze consider smaller roads into it's routing?

[kotatsu]

Wow, nice work with a wealth of information to look at. How I wish more wazers were like this!
I've tried to grab the same route now (10:14pm Tues 17th July) and it's given me A4114, A45, A452, A446 and the M6 to Junction 14.
This is the 2nd route, the first one being pretty much the length of the M6 Toll which is 5 minutes faster according to waze.
I'll take a look at each of those "better" routes and see if there's anything missing or wrong on the waze side. Bear in mind, waze will try to keep to fast roads as much as possible, i.e. lock towards motorways BUT, have you tried this route with the "Avoid Highways" option on? It will avoid the M6 and the M6 Toll completely and may well give the A34 route as an option.
Remember you will need to press the Routes button if the one Waze gives you first off isn't the one you think is right. Especially on longer routes like this where there are a couple of choices with motorways, A roads and that.

Will look into the A34 first off, see if there's anything obvious causing the problem.

As I say, there's nothing wrong with Waze's routing on a normal day, it chooses the quickest roads. Friday evening is the killer though, it needs very special routing to avoid getting stuck in traffic hell. The M42 is largely blocked from J3A to J9. The M6 is completely blocked from J4 to J16. Any route using those roads is a total no-go on Friday evenings. I've tried the avoid highways option but I shouldn't have to keep fiddling with settings, Waze should just recommend the best routes at any given time, especially when it has a lot of traffic reports to draw upon. (there are a *lot* of Wazers around Birmingham)

[xteejx]

Ok it's taken a good half hour, but there's nothing on any of those routes that is jumping out at me there.
My only suggestion would be, go the way you think is best with Waze running, let it keep rerouting and at the point where it starts following you the way you want, drop a Map Error report, as this will probably be the point where there is an error (if any).
It could be that even with the M6 and Toll backed up, Waze's algorithm isn't accounting for other possibilities because of the "importance" of using supposedly faster roads like motorways.
There are some URs in and around these routes, but I don't see any that would affect routing. I would say it's a lack of data, but looking at the number of GPS tracks around there, it's definitely not that.

[xteejx]

I completely agree.
So the problem isn't that there aren't reports on those Motorways, as you say there are plenty of wazers around Brum. Seems from the evidence it's the routing algorithm being stupid.
On a Friday evening, do you see automated waze reports (the coloured roads) on them motorways? Could be a lack of historical data if everyone just avoids it.

[kotatsu]

Ok it's taken a good half hour, but there's nothing on any of those routes that is jumping out at me there.
My only suggestion would be, go the way you think is best with Waze running, let it keep rerouting and at the point where it starts following you the way you want, drop a Map Error report, as this will probably be the point where there is an error (if any).
It could be that even with the M6 and Toll backed up, Waze's algorithm isn't accounting for other possibilities because of the "importance" of using supposedly faster roads like motorways.
There are some URs in and around these routes, but I don't see any that would affect routing. I would say it's a lack of data, but looking at the number of GPS tracks around there, it's definitely not that.

Okay, thanks for trying. I'll have to go with Co-Pilot on Fridays as if I'm routed into the M6 traffic it will really spoil my evening. (to say the least!) But I'll fire up Waze periodically and see if I can see where the maps are going awry.

It does strike me as odd though that when I'm on the M6 Toll (and so about 2/3 through the journey and past all the complex stuff near Coventry) Waze only offers a single route home. The 'routes' button doesn't spawn any more, just one single route, and that route is always from the M6 Toll to the M6, regardless of how bad the traffic is. There are exits from the Toll to avoid the M6, such as - A34 and the A51, so even if Waze wants to give the M6 as an option, it still has two of it's three options free for these other routes, but it always ignores them.

[kotatsu]

I completely agree.
So the problem isn't that there aren't reports on those Motorways, as you say there are plenty of wazers around Brum. Seems from the evidence it's the routing algorithm being stupid.
On a Friday evening, do you see automated waze reports (the coloured roads) on them motorways? Could be a lack of historical data if everyone just avoids it.

Everyone who lives in the midlands really should know how bad the traffic is here on Fridays, but there are still lots of Wazers stuck on the M6 and M42, all spawning 'complete standstill' and 'heavy traffic' reports at regular intervals. The roads are marked red too of course, with average speeds around 5mph.

[xteejx]

Hmm... Maybe this is one to give directly to Waze. Give them all of this information through the NanoRep section on the Support page. Their algorithms may need tuning or refining.


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[Shaigan]

On the "support" page, enter "penalty" and look at the automatic answer. All is clear for me to understand that smaller roads are taken into trip calculation.

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via Samsung Galaxy S avec Tapatalk

[gettingthere]

On the "support" page, enter "penalty" and look at the automatic answer. All is clear for me to understand that smaller roads are taken into trip calculation.

Sure, but any routing penalty for lower classes of roads should be less than a 2 hour traffic delay!

[Timbones]

There's definitely a propblem with the A513 by Weeping Cross, which I'll get sorted right away. There may be some other wrinkles along the ideal map that needs fixing.

In theory, if you keep using Waze, and keep driving the route you prefer, it will eventually start using it. YMMV.

[Timbones]

...it really doesn't want to use the A446 - Lichfield Rd either, though I can't see why. Maybe just need more people to drive that way.