Rationale behind (US) ramp names?

[AlanOfTheBerg]

Currently, the ramps are named primarily for readability, TTS, and to match the driver's experience in what they see out the window. If Waze matchs the signage, drivers have a higher level of confidence. They are not immune to traffic jams, and those are the biggest issue with the current naming structure. I will often see something like Heavy traffic on "to Hwy 26 W" for which it will repeat for several of the 15 of these exactly named ramps.

We did not want to get into naming a segment with the name of the previous or next segment because that's not accurate. What we are expecting to happen, eventually, is that Waze will adjust the traffic jam alerts such that the from street information from the previous intersection will be included in some manner. So, something more like Heavy traffic reported on "US-26 W ramp from Murray Blvd" would be great. In fact, that doesn't even require that a ramp be named at all. But there's all sorts of exceptions to this too.

[AlanOfTheBerg]

If someone reports an accident or hazard on the ramp, does the ramp name appear in the alert?

I think not. Today I saw a hazard popup for ", Columbus". It was on a ramp, but went away too fast for me to notice which one.

They definitely do. Every day I see several automated traffic reports for "to US-26 W" and "to US-26 E" in the Portland area. It would be less common for an exit ramp, but still possible. They aren't suppressed for ramp type roads.

[banished]

I am not disagreeing about the possible need for a change, but before we do, please let's beat this around and let it stew for a while.

To make sure I understand the concern, I'll paraphrase. Tell me if I'm on the same page...?

If on I-84 in Oregon you have, "Exit 85: City Center / The Dalles" in both the eastbound and westbound direction, the idea is to name each exit ramp (east and west) differently? Something like "I-84 E Exit 85: City Center / The Dalles" and "I-84 W Exit 85: City Center / The Dalles"?

I think I understand the intent of the idea from a media traffic reporting standpoint, but aside from taking up too much space in the client, doesn't the commuter come first? It may not help ABC, but if the commuter's route takes him through the westbound exit and the traffic jam is on the eastbound exit, does the commuter care?

[dmcconachie]

We had a very similar suggestion in the earlier UK version of this discussion. I really like the modular solution.

[GizmoGuy411]

Assuming I understand this the way banished summarized it, and...

If WeeeZer is right about being able to split up a (specifically formatted) exit name in the backend, then a hazard report could be generated that could prefix the exit ramp with the segment immediately before the exit ramp...for instance, if you have an accident "Exit 12: Main St" that comes off of "I-10 W", the backend could generate a report that says "Accident I-10 W Exit 12".

Then...

This would keep it simple and indicate whether it's Exit 12 for westbound or eastbound traffic. If you leave either piece of information out, it's not useful information unless you pull over and start scanning the map to see a physical location.

This would solve several issues. Including the fact that many ramps are not yet named properly and we would not need to go båçk and add the road name before the word "Exit" for every ramp. Of course it would mean that Wazw would have to code it.

Also If this was implemented on the World server, would their be any unforeseen negative impact
there?

[harling]

...we are NOT using Waze to make maps that are pretty to look at. We are making maps for a tool that helps people get from point A to B...

+1

[jasonh300]

There was mention at the meetup about the importance of the directional suffix on Interstates and US Hwys, specifically for the traffic reports. It's especially important in an area like San Francisco where a local TV network affiliate is using Waze for the morning traffic reports.

It might be important to apply this to exit ramps also, since there's usually two Exit 24s, one from each direction. There shouldn't be any question about which highway this exit is off of because, although Schwartzenegger Rd might cross more than one interstate, it's unlikely that both interstates will have the same exit number for that road.

If someone reports an accident or hazard on the ramp, does the ramp name appear in the alert?

Maybe ramp functionality could be changed to make it apply the alert to the segment immediately before the ramp, which would probably further screw up the TTS and display of ramp naming we already have.

[jasonh300]

If WeeeZer is right about being able to split up a (specifically formatted) exit name in the backend, then a hazard report could be generated that could prefix the exit ramp with the segment immediately before the exit ramp...for instance, if you have an accident "Exit 12: Main St" that comes off of "I-10 W", the backend could generate a report that says "Accident I-10 W Exit 12".

This would keep it simple and indicate whether it's Exit 12 for westbound or eastbound traffic. If you leave either piece of information out, it's not useful information unless you pull over and start scanning the map to see a physical location.

[mapcat]

If someone reports an accident or hazard on the ramp, does the ramp name appear in the alert?

I think not. Today I saw a hazard popup for ", Columbus". It was on a ramp, but went away too fast for me to notice which one.

[mapcat]

If someone reports an accident or hazard on the ramp, does the ramp name appear in the alert?

I think not. Today I saw a hazard popup for ", Columbus". It was on a ramp, but went away too fast for me to notice which one.

They definitely do. Every day I see several automated traffic reports for "to US-26 W" and "to US-26 E" in the Portland area. It would be less common for an exit ramp, but still possible. They aren't suppressed for ramp type roads.

Are you sure that automated traffic reports and user-generated reports work the same way? If so, then it must have been some unnamed intermediate ramp, which suggests that maybe we need to name all of them.