[SUPPORT] Traffic Avoidance Failure

[AlanOfTheBerg]

My route from work to home yesterday had alerts as well as slowdowns. Only the alerts showed on the route preview. But yesterday was also the first time in a long time where I got the "ETA changed" popups. Unfortunately, they were the useless kind where it changed the ETA to later and earlier by the same amount within seconds. Once, the popup for the reverse-ETA change came immediately after I dismissed the first. It did re-route me to a slightly faster route as I approached one intersection. Unfortunately, it was part of the route I had originally rejected in the alternate routes list.

[gettingthere]

Unfortunately, they were the useless kind where it changed the ETA to later and earlier by the same amount within seconds. Once, the popup for the reverse-ETA change came immediately after I dismissed the first.

Waze should never give ETA change message that have traffic buildup and time saved messages within seconds. This is a bug.

Waze needs to build in some type of filter to limit how often these messages can appear. Especially the incidents where it's just bogus data. The is no possible way that traffic can build 4 minutes, ease up 3 minutes, build 4 minutes, ease up 3 minutes in a matter of 30 seconds... Especially when you are looking at reports on route and there are no jam before or after seeing these messages!

Regarding re-routing. Wazers don't want to be routed and re-routed multiple times quickly. There needs to be some minimum threshhold of time savings. If another route is maybe 5 minutes faster (or some other similar amount) then re-route it. Waze should not then send you back on the original route 1 minute later. No one wants to be switching lanes back and forth to change routes over and over due to the feature not working properly.

[CBenson]

I've gotten some different routes for my last few commutes, so maybe something has changed on the routing server.

A couple of thoughts.
1) The pop ups can really be annoying. Yesterday evening I drove through an area that I don't usually travel through to view the current configuration of some roads in a construction zone where map problems were popping up. Between the normal popup at stop lights and the routing pop up telling my ETA was changing, I was missing turns because I couldn't see the map when at the interesection waze was telling me to turn at. The pop ups don't bother me much when driving in an area I know. But boy when you want to see the route ahead, they can be a problem in the city.

2) I also get annoyed when I'm rerouted to a different turn at an intersection when I'm already so close to the intersection that I have had to commit to the previous route. I just can't think of nice things when waze essentially tells me "if you were in the right lane you could take this exit and save some time, but you're not as I was telling you to turn left in another block."

[gettingthere]

2) I also get annoyed when I'm rerouted to a different turn at an intersection when I'm already so close to the intersection that I have had to commit to the previous route. I just can't think of nice things when waze essentially tells me "if you were in the right lane you could take this exit and save some time, but you're not as I was telling you to turn left in another block."

Great point. It is useless to get rerouted to avoid traffic unless there is sufficient advance notice. On a highway, likely Waze should not try to reroute you to an exit that is 100 feet way - 4 lanes over. I know that Waze has not concept of what lane you are in or how many lanes there are. So likely they should not try to send you off of an exit or to another highway if it any less than say 1/2 of a mile away.

Another issue I have noticed in regard to this is that Waze will tell you it has rerouted you to save time, and THEN actually calculate the new route vs. prior to the notice. So if you happen to lose data connection, the routing server times out, etc - you don't actually get a new route!

[islupepa]

Great point. It is useless to get rerouted to avoid traffic unless there is sufficient advance notice. On a highway, likely Waze should not try to reroute you to an exit that is 100 feet way - 4 lanes over. I know that Waze has not concept of what lane you are in or how many lanes there are. So likely they should not try to send you off of an exit or to another highway if it any less than say 1/2 of a mile away.

Time instead of distance would be better! You could be in the situation that your stuck in slow traffic and you're only 20 meters from an exit!

Another issue I have noticed in regard to this is that Waze will tell you it has rerouted you to save time, and THEN actually calculate the new route vs. prior to the notice. So if you happen to lose data connection, the routing server times out, etc - you don't actually get a new route!

Happened many times to me too! This is something they have to look into too. Even if they say that the have improved the problems with connection to the routing server it still happens quite often.

[foxitrot]

I hope Ori will explain that soon, so we will know if we could start testing the fix right now or have to wait.

Likely we won't get another response until next week. I am 99% sure the fix is not yet installed on the routing servers.

A hour ago I've checked our usual "Friday evening city-wide traffic jam" (INTL servers) - apparently no fix applied yet.

[guri211]

I hope Ori will explain that soon, so we will know if we could start testing the fix right now or have to wait.

Likely we won't get another response until next week. I am 99% sure the fix is not yet installed on the routing servers.

A hour ago I've checked our usual "Friday evening city-wide traffic jam" (INTL servers) - apparently no fix applied yet.

[guri211]

I am 99% sure the fix is not yet installed on the routing servers.

Unfortunatelly you are right Today, saturday afternoon, the only traffic jam in our city. Why not to route through it?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10259654/SC20120303-132115.png
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http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10259654/SC20120303-132806.png

[guri211]

Until Waze resolves this issue with the traffic not being properly factored into the routing, the usability of Waze is highly compromised. Traffic avoidance is the primary function of Waze.

Any similarity to Waze is purely coincidental

[guri211]

The is no possible way that traffic can build 4 minutes, ease up 3 minutes, build 4 minutes, ease up 3 minutes in a matter of 30 seconds...

It looks like there are multiple routing servers answering our requests and some of them do not have information about traffic. This could cause such problems.

Today morning, same alternative routes, same minute, 2 results rotating:

07:26:10 UTC: 20 / 21 / 23 minutes
07:26:17 UTC: 23 / 24 / 27 minutes
07:26:27 UTC: 20 / 21 / 23 minutes
07:26:35 UTC: 23 / 24 / 27 minutes

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10259654/SC20120306-082610.png
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