Auto Re-routing based on traffic: Not great.

[ayounes]

I agree, its crap. I live in the bay area, where Waze is up the road from me. I have been stuck in numerous traffic jams and the thing will not re-route. I work and live between two major highways, 101 and 280. The retarded app will not route me on 280 despite bad traffic and jams on 101. I used other apps that show traffic times on these two highways and clearly 280 was a better option despite the added 6 miles overall the trip.

I am not going to drive on Central and 280 to "teach" waze my preferred routes, it should suggest them. Big #fail. I stopped using it, I check google maps before I head out and decide on my route before hand.

[daknife]

So where is this occurring, because Waze has kept me out of traffic jams multiple times. My guess is the maps in your area need work and that Waze just can't see a faster route. This may be due to a lack of Wazers or due to issues with the possible alternate routes. And perhaps, just because when you get to where you can see the alternate it is going faster, at other points it may not, and Waze is keeping you on the fastest route. Also check your settings, you might be set to shortest, rather than fastest. In which case Waze isn't worrying about the speed so much as the distance per route.

Look at your settings, then go to the update map and check your primary and alternate routes. It really can and does work.

[ellipsis]

when the latest update had recently come out, i noticed waze doing alot of navigating around traffic, and it was very good. as of late though, it doesn't do so as much. I wonder what someone changed on the server.

Exactly the same here. I had around 2-3 months where Waze was auto-rerouting really well, but for the last week or so it's been horrible. I've gotten to the point where I constantly check alternate routes manually when traffic is bad... earlier this week I was completely stopped on the interstate, checked alternate routes and one of them was 15 minutes shorter, but I didn't have enough time to get over to the exit. If it had even rerouted a minute earlier it would have been fine. The length of my route is always 45-50 miles and it seems like it used to be really good at auto-rerouting.

[gettingthere]

Waze has this functionality. In fact just this morning I got a pop-up on my commute that a faster route was available that would save 2 minutes and I was automatically rerouted.

Where this works well or not depends on other factors. The number of Wazers in your area. The condition of the map. The length of your route. Etc.

Do you want to share more specific information on where you are Wazing and where this occurred. Including a permalink from the map editor would be helpful.

[khoward633]

I've seen it pop up 2x in the 1.5 months I've been a member. It did have a bell alert that normal pop-ups don't have. Each time it was a minimal detour.

[realc4ever]

when the latest update had recently come out, i noticed waze doing alot of navigating around traffic, and it was very good. as of late though, it doesn't do so as much. I wonder what someone changed on the server.

maybe for a future update, the people at waze should put it in the Client, various options for the users to decide how waze should give a route and navigate around traffic instead of them doing it themselves.

I noticed it seems waze doesn't navigate around a minor accident, only a major one. Does waze only use slowdowns to navigate around accidents ? there was a major accident reported over the weekend, i put in a route to pass it and waze didn't navigate around it. when the latest update recently came out, it would navigate around heavy traffic, accidents, and etc.

Perhaps some of the following could be options in the client so the user can decide how Waze will route to a destination:

1. Avoid major accidents ?
2. Avoid minor accidents ?
3. Avoid on-road construction ?
4. Avoid road when average speed is X mph or less ? (the value for x, the user would input the number themselves)
5. Reroute if time saved is X minute or greater ? (the current value of 1 minute isn't really effective, again, the number for x would be entered by the user)
6. Avoid police ?
7. Always navigate so address is on the right side ? (yes or no).

these are just some ideas I am sure which can be expanded upon. I don't see why these options would be difficult to include especially since there are already options in the client the currently effect the servers routing.

I personally would like # 7 because i'm a delivery driver in the US. With the address on the right, you won't have to make odd turns or "drive around the block" turns.

[shage13]

Im new to waze and sometimes it works well and others it reroutes me to the toll roads which this state is full of that run side by side with another state route, just one is faster speed then the others, yet the free road has 0 traffic. I think the option for no toll roads along with no dirt roads would be great.

[shage13]

thanks, added more suggestions in the suggestion forum

[whiny]

So, am I doing anything wrong?

My tom-tom with traffic tells me, "traffic ahead and there is a better route. Get off here".

So why, when Waze knows "complete standstill, accident, etc", does it make me stay on the highway?

Example: Last weekend I was on my way North to the cottage. The freeway had an accident, and I can plainly see that Waze knows about this - complete standstills, accident notices popping up left right and centre. So my friends, in front of me, get off the highway and take a parallel side road past the accident, arriving a full hour ahead of me.

So, Waze has the data, why isn't it telling me about a better route? Why would it tell me to sit in traffic? Am I doing something wrong?

[whiny]

No problem sharing this info - will do so when I get home.

I guess I'm just extra frustrated over this past weekend experience. I decided to post because it was not the first time this has crossed my mind - regularly driving home on the highway, waze will show the average speed much lower - so I know that IT knows I'm going to be slow. Then I see a parallel route moving faster, and yell at Waze, WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME THAT??!

Its frustrating when you can see the data presented in front of you, but the application doesn't necessarily respond intelligently.

I've taken my tom-tom alongside a few times, and never once has waze suggested I leave it's initial route when the tom-tom does regularly.

Cheers!