This page serves as the primary resource for editors of California. Review all the sections to better understand how the guidelines for this state might deviate from the overall USA or worldwide guidelines. If you have any comments or questions about this page or state refer to the community links below.
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Nothing to report at this time. |
Introduction
California is a part of the Southwest region, which includes the states and/or territories of:
Arizona / California / Colorado / Hawaii / Nevada / New Mexico / Utah.
Mapping resources
Before editing the maps in California, be sure to fully review and understand the editing manual.
The Waze user community follows the Waze etiquette guidelines discussed in the Wiki. Be sure to familiarize yourself with these guiding principals while editing the maps and this Wiki, as well as when communicating with other Waze users.
NOTE: The Caltrans web site has been under revision. Some resources below may not currently be available directly from the Caltrans page.
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California Transportation Maps with multiple layers - Wealth of information. (Currently unavailable)
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California GIS maps Links to county and city government maps online.
For mapping resources specific to individual cities and towns in the state, see California/Cities and towns.
Community
The Waze forum is a great place to find answers to previously asked questions and also a place to ask new ones. Below are links to the forums specific to California.
- California section of Waze forum
- The Southwest region forum
- The USA section of Waze Forum
- The USA segment unlock requests
Area Managers for California can be found in the table below.
New editors should consider checking into the formal mentoring program available at no charge.
Editor community
California communication is now unified in the Waze Southwest Region Discord community. To join the group, click here, sign up, and say Hi : https://discord.gg/twxnqnU All editors are also recommended to join the US National community as well: https://discord.gg/WRq3tzV
MapRaids
For more details on this topic, see MapRaid.
MapRaid is a time-limited event during which map editors join together to resolve MP’s, UR’s, add & update “Places”, fix connectivity problems, add missing roads, and add/edit speed limit data in a pre-determined area of the map.
Upcoming events
No currently scheduled events.
Past events
The following events have been completed. Results can be seen in each link.
- March 12, 2015 - Bay Area MegaMapRaid
- January 4, 2015 - MapRaid LA
Cities and towns
One of the most common errors when editing the maps is when an editor creates a road and does not confirm the road by setting the city and road name (or stating it has none).
Duplicate cities can be caused by incorrectly named segments and should be corrected following the guidelines in the duplicate cities article.
See California/Cities and towns for guidance in California specific to individual cities and towns.
Major roads
California follows the general road naming and road type guidelines of the USA.
Functional Classifications
California is following the Functional Classification (FC) system for the USA.
To help update the current California roadways to the new functional classifications, go to the California FC update page.
Here is a bookmarklet which will locate the correct CRS Grid page for the area you are editing in. This is currently unavailable due to Caltrans web site updates. California Highway System is the unofficial reference for California Functional Classification]. CRS (PDF with signatures) is the currently recognized source. CRS grid information can be found here for cross reference and request via e-mail. Please contact the State Managers so requests to Caltrans can be consolidated.
Lock Levels
We observe the following minimum lock levels for Waze road types:
CALIFORNIA STANDARDS| ROAD TYPE | LOCK LEVEL |
|---|---|
| Freeway | 5 |
| Ramp | HCS[1] |
| Major Highway | 3 |
| Minor Highway | 2[2] |
| Primary Street | 2 |
| All Others | 1 |
- ↑ Use the lock level of the highest-locked connected segment.
- ↑ Increase lock level to 3 in dense metropolitan areas
Note that these are minimums and, for protection, certain segments may be at higher lock levels.
U-turns
This is interim guidance for California, until such time as National standards are agreed upon.
U-turns on *two-way* Primary Street through Major Highway type roads may be enabled in either of the following two circumstances:
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- The U-turn is _explicitly_ allowed by signage; or
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- The U-turn is otherwise legal and safe, and there is _at least_ 10.1 m (33 feet) from the left edge of the departure lane to the “destination” curb. This can include any median that may exist to the left of the departure lane. (The measurement is intended to accommodate the turning radius of most passenger vehicles.)
Do NOT make a point of enabling all U-turns valid under this guidance, only as you encounter them and they are necessary. Do not enable U-turns on Street type roads. This guidance could change in the future.
Unsigned exit numbers
In California, highway forks and ramps sometimes lack exit number signage. Unsigned information generally does not belong in Waze instructions, but Caltrans has committed to marking exit numbers throughout California over time.
In simple situations where there is little chance of driver confusion, editors may add documented but unsigned exit numbers in expectation of their eventually appearing on signage. In complex situations, however — for example, when a highway comes to an end, changes designation, or joins a shared alignment — adding unsigned exit numbers to Waze instructions could confuse drivers. In such cases it is better to omit exit numbers until they become signed.
Under earlier guidance, editors may have added unsigned exit numbers even in complex, potentially confusing situations. These should not be removed without careful review, preferably based on personal experience and/or driver reports. There is to be no campaign to remove unsigned exit numbers from the Waze map of California.
Special roads
Drivable roads
California follows the standard USA guidelines for all of the following special road types.
- Divided highways and roadways
- Carpool, HOV, Transit lanes
- Roundabouts and traffic circles
- Dead ends and culs-de-sac
- Toll roads
- Partial and scheduled restrictions
- Private installations and military bases
Non-drivable roads
Review the Wiki guidelines for non-drivable roads to ensure compliance with the general guidelines.
Unpaved check box
The US wiki entry on the unpaved checkbox / attribute prohibits its use to flag paved roads regardless of their condition. The stated expectation is that drivers who ask to avoid unpaved roads will do so only to avoid unpaved surface types, and are not concerned with surface quality. It is thought that drivers will be upset if Waze avoids any paved roads in their area, even the very worst ones, as a result of their checking the app option to avoid dirt (soon to be unpaved) roads.
Our experience in California, however, has been the opposite. Drivers frequently complain about being routed over roads whose paving is so poor that even some fraction of locals habitually avoid them. We want to support these drivers. Consequently, in California it is acceptable to use the unpaved checkbox to flag paved roads if they are in uncommonly poor condition by local standards.
Paved roads whose condition is typical of the local area should not be marked as unpaved, no matter how poor they may be by absolute standards. Use of the unpaved checkbox for uncommonly poor paved roads should be rare. Please add a Map Comment point when doing so to inform other editors why the road was flagged, and consider locking the road higher than usual.
Other drivable roads
California follows USA guidance for other drivable road types.
Closures
When managing a section of roadway under construction or being closed for a major event, follow the Wiki guidelines on construction zones and Real time closures.
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https://lcswebreports-new.dot.ca.gov |
See California/Closures for guidance in California that may not be universal to all other states and territories.
Places
Place Editing in the Southwest Region generally follows the National standards, but please note the following specific local guidelines.
Qualifying Standards
Southwest Region does not map freeway exits with Places (either Area or Point).
Southwest Region does not use the “Airport” category for private airfields or airstrips that do not welcome the general driving public. If there is a need for them to be mapped, “Other” is the appropriate category. If easily recognizable as airfields when seen from nearby public roads, they may be mapped as Area Places. Otherwise either do not map them, or map them as Point Places.
Locking Standards
Places should be completed as fully as possible any time they are created or updated. At a minimum, editors should:
- verify correct spelling of the name, using the guidelines below
- complete the address, to help when choosing among search results in the app, and
- ensure the correct location of the Point or Stop Point, to guide drivers to the correct location. Note that this may not always be on the street side of the location.
- Add an external provider (for level 2+ editors). Click the + where it says “Add linked Google place”. Type in the name and choose the correct location. If there is no place in Google for it, consider adding it there and the auto-matcher should eventually pick it up.
Phone numbers and opening hours are also particularly helpful to Wazers. Complete them whenever possible, using an online search, if necessary. Photos should help Wazers recognize the destination when they arrive.
Recommended phone number formats: (987) 654-3210 or 987-654-3210 Others may not auto-dial properly in some phones.
When completed, places should be locked to prevent inadvertent damage. Please don’t lock places to their highest level until most of their information is completed, but do lock to a level higher than 1, once you have verified any information, to help protect from accidental damage through client submissions. The following are recommended (minimum) levels:
Airport : 5
Hospital : 4
Fire Station : 4
Police Station : 4
Large areas - (State Parks, if mapped, etc.) : 4
Gas Station : 3
Most other places should be locked at 3, once completed.
Naming Standards
SWR uses standardized naming of most public facilities and businesses. This makes search results more consistent and useful, and gives Wazers a more professional and uniform experience. The names have been designed to work well with instant search, regular search, and to be clear and concise in the map display. Please follow these guidelines when naming the places described below.
Places which are part of a larger area place (e.g. place points for parking lots in a university area, separate ER entrances in a hospital area, etc.) should be named with their unique name followed by a hyphen and the name of the larger area they belong to. For example “Student Parking Lot C - StudyHard University”
Government Agencies (selected)
All places for the following agencies should be named according to the standards as follows:
Click to expand details
City and County Offices: City or County Name followed by City Hall or department or agency as appropriate, for example:
La Palma City Hall
Los Angeles County Probation
San Diego County Administration Center
Police and Sheriff Stations: City, Agency or Division Name followed by “Police Station” or “Sheriff Station”, for example:
Rampart Division Police Station
Sacramento Police Station
Lakewood Sheriff Station
A page which can help you find the LAPD Station names, though it takes a little work.
Fire Stations: Agency Name or abbreviation followed by “Fire Station – “ and the station number. For example:
SFFD Fire Station 15
CalFire Fire Station 3
LACoFD Fire Station 105
Here is a list of LAFD Stations
Subway and Light Rail Stations: Start with the Agency (and the line if appropriate) followed by the station name. For example:
Metro Blue Line – Willow Station
RT Gold Line – 29th Street Station
BART – Powell Street Station
VTA Light Rail - Tasman Station
Stations name can be found for BART and VTA Light Rail.
In general, City Bus stops should not be mapped.
United States Postal Service: Start the name with “Post Office”, then append CDP or Station name. Place the City name and the ZIP code of the Post Office in the Description box so it will be viewable in the app GO page. Alternate name should be “USPS”. For example:
Post Office - Seal Beach Mariner Station
Post Office - Los Angeles Airport
Post Office - GMF Long Beach
Note: This naming structure was updated 10/2017.
Here is the USPS tool to find the names of specific post offices.
https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorAction!input.action
US VA Hospitals/Centers/Clinics: Should be named with their official name as the primary name. For VA hospitals/medical centers “(US Veterans Only)” should be added to the end of the primary name, and as the first line of the description. In the primary name, “VA” should be expanded as “Veterans Affairs”, so as not to cause a TTS conflict with Virginia. Names can be shortened to remove extraneous words; for example, replace “Campus of the” from the official name with a hyphen (-). Any colloquial names should be added as alt names, so they are returned in search results, and also at the beginning of the description, so they are visible on the place preview page in the client. Some examples:
Veterans Affairs - Long Beach Medical Center (US Veterans Only)
Anaheim Veterans Medical Clinic
Veterans Affairs - West Los Angeles Medical Center (US Veterans Only)
Place Name Harmonization
These name spellings are standardized so that Wazers will receive consistent results when searching in the client. Please use them when you edit one of these chain or franchise businesses.
If you don’t find the business you’re looking for, please use this form to submit the missing information.
View this list full-screen in Google Sheets
Entry Points
We only add entry points to places when necessary for navigation.
- We do not add entry points on every Point Place (PP). Entry points are added only if needed for proper routing.
- We only add entry points to Residential Point Places (RPP) when the RPP should route to a segment with no street name or the street name is different than the street name in the RPP.
- Entry points are added to area places
Cameras
Not every camera-looking device at an intersection is a speed or red light camera. Generally speaking:
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a speed camera takes a photograph of a vehicle when it passes by the camera at too high a speed.
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a red light camera takes a photograph of a vehicle that enters an intersection after the light is red. In some areas, it takes the photograph when a vehicle is not clear of the intersection some period after the light turns red.
Be sure to know your cameras before accepting new camera reports.
When adding a camera, be sure to review the camera placement recommendations.
Laws regarding speed and red light cameras vary between the states and territories, so be sure to understand the details of camera legality in California.
Based on information researched at the time this page was created, California does not have any laws regarding speed cameras, therefore they may be present in the state, and red light cameras are permitted statewide in California.
No other camera types should be mapped in Waze.
Recently some California cities have been removing red light cameras.
To do list
Many states and territories keep an active list of pending or closed actions that need to be done in the state by the editors. All editors are welcome to contribute to the list of activities.
This state does not currently have an active “to do” list at this time. Check in the California section of the Waze forums to discuss creating one.
Area Managers
The table below identifies the editors also designated as Area Managers or higher who are editing in California. If you have any questions, please consider contacting them directly as needed. If you are an Area Manager that covers California, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in California, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username) in the correct rank section.
The editor who also serves as the Regional Coordinator for California is automatically listed at the top of the table. That editor may not be highly active in this state and therefore may not be listed separately in the table.
| California — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators | ||
| Regional Coordinator(s): [RC] ottonomy (PM [Help])  [ARC1] jemay (PM [Help]) [ARC2] tonestertm (PM [Help]) [ARC3] turbomkt (PM [Help]) [ARC4] ojlaw (PM [Help]) |
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| Username | Area Managed | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Country Managers (Southwest region) (Add to or edit Country and State sections of table) |
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| ottonomy(6) |
Statewide |   Lifetime Los Angeles resident |
| jemay(6) |
Focused on Southern CA | Southern California resident |
| tonestertm(6) |
Statewide |   L.A. born/based, SWR ARC |
| turbomkt(6) |
Statewide |  Southern California |
| Machete808(6) |
Southern CA Focused - Statewide Assistance | Also Hawaii SM, Thailand CM |
| ojlaw(6) ojlaw
|
Countrywide | USA LC/CM |
| State Managers (Southwest region) | ||
| tonestertm(6) |
Statewide | LA born/based, lifetime California traveler, and ARC for Southwest Region |
| turbomkt(6) |
Statewide | Southern California |
| Machete808(6) |
Southern CA Focused - Statewide Assistance | Also Hawaii SM, Thailand CM |
| ojlaw(6) ojlaw
|
Countrywide | USA LC/CM |
citeman(5)  |
Statewide | Long Beach born: LA/OC based |
| nivekeel(5) |
Statewide | Southern California |
| abc1357(5) |
Statewide | Northern California |
| AquaZR1(5) |
Statewide | Also AM in Kauai |
| Area Managers (Add to or edit this section) |
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| SunDevil2213(5) |
Riverside County |  AM and active in Phoenix, AZ area, Also AM Sonora, Mexico |
| DwarfLord(5) |
Northern California | Mostly retired from Waze at this point |
| OhioStMusicMan(5) |
Bakersfield & Kern County |  Ohio SM |
| juliansean(5) |
Sierra Nevada | Texas SM |
SpencerFG(4)  |
Central Coast | Bay Area to LA as EA permits. Also Virginia LAM |
| Deltamanx(4) |
Statewide | Nor-Cal focus |
| Chucksways(4) |
Silicon Valley | Also Colorado SM |
| Nagamasa(4) |
North Bay Area - Sacramento | |
| geopgeop(4) |
Most of the Bay Area | Also AM for Las Vegas |
| SJK123(4) |
East Garrison, Salinas and Monterey | |
| UEFL(4) |
Los Angeles County | |
bwawsc(3)  |
Santa Cruz area, south Santa Clara County | Also AM in the Sierras north of Yosemite |
Other states and territories
The other states and territories of the USA can be found in the navigation box below. Press the “show” button to open the box.
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