Hi everyone,
As many of you have already noticed, the auto-lock mechanism has been disabled by Waze. As a result, the lock level of segments that had this option enabled has been adjusted according to their type.
We emphasize that in cases where the editor does not have a sufficient level to make a suggestion, it is possible to use the suggestions tool. If there are any problems or restrictions with any type of suggestion, please let us know so that the staff can be informed.
In Brazil, both during the auto-lock deactivation process and for new segments, it was decided to adopt the lock levels according to the table below:
| Roads |
Lock |
| Street, Parking Lot, and Private Road |
1 |
| Narrow Street and 4x4 Trail |
2 |
| Minor Highway and Major Highway |
3 |
| Ramp and Ferry |
4 |
| Freeway and Federal Highway |
5 |
| Non-drivable (Railroad, Runway, Walking Trail, Pedestrian Boardwalk, Stairway) |
1 |
@br-area-manager
Great job @georgenqueiroz, I think it’s worth emphasizing that when creating new routes, please respect these blocks.
Keep in mind that “Permanent Alerts” do not generate “Map Suggestions” (MS).
“Permanent Alert” will also inherit the lock level of the segment to which it was added.”
Example: editors (L4-) will not be able to insert/edit/delete “Permanent Alerts” on “Federal” type roads (lock5);
This message appears when an L3 editor selects a speed camera on a federal highway.
This message appears if an L3 editor tries to add a permanent alert on a federal highway.
Regarding School Areas: I am not sure about the behavior if an L4 editor tries to add/insert/delete on a federal highway.
Perhaps the following message appears:
The suggestion is to request the segment unlock in the respective State forum to be able to make the edits.
If more examples come up, please post them here.
Thanks and regards.
I ran the test and for a State Highway with lock 3 and “preferred routing”, only Lvl4+ editors can edit/make the connection.
This is the expected behavior, as the preferred/unpreferred routing feature is L4+!
While I understand the need for map security, I feel that the levels have become a bit too high for certain road categories, which ends up stifling the quick maintenance of basic elements. For example:
-
Level 4 Editors and Federal Highways (Lock 5): As a Level 4 editor, I am unable to edit federal highways. The problem is that this prevents simple but essential adjustments, such as adding or correcting speed cameras, speed bumps, and traffic lights on these roads.
-
Level 2 Editors and Major Roads (Lock 3): Level 2 editors now have access to certain types of alerts, but cannot edit major roads. This includes house numbering restrictions, speed bumps, and traffic lights, which creates a bottleneck, as the editor has local knowledge but always needs to escalate the edit to a higher level.
Perhaps we could discuss making certain road types more flexible or allowing specific elements (such as safety signage) to have a lock level independent of the road level?
I agree with you regarding the L5 segment locking for L4 editors, because there is a difference of 125,000 edits to move from L4 to L5. Meanwhile, from L2 to L3 it is only 21,000 edits. A highly engaged editor reaches L3 with extreme ease, reducing that type of restriction you mentioned.
On the other hand, I haven’t had any issues so far when I needed to request a lock reduction; I’ve always been helped quickly here on Discuss. I understand how frustrating it can be to be “tied down” when editing certain things, but with the end of auto-lock, I actually found the way segment levels were adjusted to be fair, as a way to protect the maps from well-intentioned but ill-informed editors, or those who don’t know the Wazeopedia rules.
What we could perhaps discuss is assigning more active volunteers (read: addicts who spend all day on WME) to be responsible for quickly handling these unlock requests, almost like an “RRT Team” for this purpose 
. I’d even volunteer to handle requests from L3- editors, since I’m an L4 for now, and although I’m not on WME all day via PC, I have my phone in my hand almost all the time, so I could handle these requests via mobile.
To move up from L4 to L5, 150,000 edits are required after reaching level L4, not 125,000. As far as I know, L4 is 100k and L5 is 250k. And from L2 to L3, 22k is needed (from 3k to 25k).
Exactly! Here in Alagoas we have few active/participating editors; I believe most are currently LVL4. And before that, it had been “agreed upon” that federal highways in the state would have a manual lock 3 as map protection, since autolock wasn’t efficient here due to low signal coverage.
Today, with this level of “blocking,” I feel discouraged from editing, added to the fact that I’m personally very busy. However, whenever possible, I access WME to update something or correct the map in my region.
A huge step backward: a level 4 editor having to request an unlock, or having to suggest edits that will be approved who knows when. Or else having the double work of suggesting and then going to the forum to ask for “authorization.”
Did they say what the issue with auto-lock was? What was the reason for disabling it?
Can this fixed lock setting be applied per state? I believe it depends a lot on each region.
If I may suggest something, I would suggest evaluating who the SMs are for each state and whether they are active or not, to then define the lock for the most critical roads (federal/state/ramp) at the state level, which are of high importance for long-distance routing.
As @andresonmelo mentioned, here in AL we have active SMs (me, @edu_scott, and @andresonmelo still helps) and we are all lv4. Lately, we have been going through a process of federalizing some state highways. This forced lock could really hinder this mapping.
I agree, plus level 5 is very drastic, since not everyone reaches level 4.
@danielborges93, since November 20, 2020, the automatic lock has stopped evolving. From that date on, I haven’t seen ANY segment evolve its automatic lock anymore. To me, it’s been inactive since then, just taking up space.
I don’t know the exact reason why it was disabled or discontinued, though.
Here in MG, 50 speed cameras were recently installed on the highway. If this change had been applied before December, I would have given up on the mission of adding these cameras because of the difficulty and the need to assist with several requests to unlock segments in the affected locations. Luckily for me, it only happened now, about a month after the cameras were finished.
Very good! It’s very relevant for map protection!
I also think the lock is too high for these two types: Federal and principal. For me, it could be 4 and 2.
According to the staff, the auto-lock code was old, had precision issues, and required complex maintenance in specific areas. Furthermore, according to them, auto-lock was rarely used in higher-tier segments (federal, freeways), not exceeding 15% in ROW and 1.5% in NA.
The locks are extremely high; having new editors in small towns wait until level 3 to edit main roads is discouraging for them. There are small towns with state highways running through them, and because of preferred routing, they are literally stuck at lock 5! It’s way too high. I think major roads should be lock 2, and federal and state highways with preferred routing should be lock 4.
Considering that we have very few active level 5 and 6 editors;
Considering that relying on suggestion approval and/or segment unlocking creates more work and delays in making edits;
Considering that the suggestions tool has bugs and limitations;
Considering that Discuss presents usability challenges, including finding topics (such as segment unlock requests);
Considering that the concepts of major highway and minor highway do not exist in Brazil;
Considering that federal highways and state highways are identical, differing only by the entity responsible for them;
I am bringing forward the following suggestions:
-
Lower the level of Federal highways to a maximum of 4;
-
Keep State and Federal highways at the same level, since in Brazil they are identical roads, differing only in the body responsible for them (here we do not have the concepts of minor highway and major highway).
I believe editor maturity has advanced significantly in recent years, and indeed, no major disasters have been seen.
Today, for an editor to reach Level 3 status and become an AM, they need to be very well-guided, have accumulated solid knowledge, and be highly engaged with the community.
Furthermore, we have many Level 5 and 6 editors who monitor the maps constantly.
There are also the automatically generated MPs.
I understand that concerns regarding Routing are indeed very important.
So, I feel that this assigned Level is very high and actually discourages newer editors.
But I’ll leave you with a question:
Did you become an AM, an SM, a CM, or reach a higher Level? And now, will I dedicate myself more?
Being a volunteer does not exempt you from the responsibility you have taken on. It is not just a label.
