Is there a way to use Waze where Toll Tag Status = “TRUE” but it doesn’t just keep routing me through the I-45 Express Lane?
More often than not, the Express Lane isn’t available as a HOT lane and I’m commuting alone.
Anyway, it would be nice to have a filter for HOT lane time availability or to just use express lanes as options or not.
Can you give a location of where this is happening. We should have it restricted so that if you have the app set to one person, you wouldn’t be routed that way. Is it all of I-45 or a certain section? Thank you.
We’ll also need to know the time when this happened.
It’s all of I-45 and it’s everyday.
For instance, today - right now. 16:50 Central.
Waze is telling me my best route is the I-45 Express Lane. Based on my current location and current traffic conditions, I will not make it to where I’d need to get onto the Express Lane before the single passenger (HOT Lane) closes.
In Houston, the HOV and HOT lanes are the same physical piece of freeway. Those in the HOT Lane just pay to use the HOV lane. This HOT lane option is only available during certain times of day.
https://www.ridemetro.org/Pages/HOVandHOT-I45S.aspx
That site has a table for AM/PM commutes.
The only Tag option I’ve added is the EZ TAG. I have even ADDED and REMOVED the option for Metro HOT Lanes Toll Tag in an effort to “show” the app I’m rarely interested in taking the HOT lane. Honestly, unless its going to save me 15 or 30 minutes, it’s not worth the hassle of getting on and off the HOV/HOT lanes.
This also happens in the mornings during rush hour. Between the hours of about 6:30 and 9:00 am. I’m just going the other way.
As far as location: I live in League City and work off of FM 290 East and E BW8 - generally, this is “Houston.” My concern is specifically about commutes from League City to Work where WAZE directs me onto the Gulf Freeway (I-45) Northbound HOT lanes during my morning commute. It is now directing my from WORK to HOME on the SOUTHBOUND HOT Lanes of I-45.
The app has given me three options, all of them include transit on the HOT lanes AKA I-45 Express Ln. If I select the option to “Avoid Tolls” I’m given main lane options, but I’m now telling Waze to avoid the Beltway. Which I personally don’t want to do.
All of this being said, I understand that this is a horrific time for traffic, but it would be nice to at least see how bad it is on routes I could actually take.
Thanks,
MP
MP,
I plan to run some tests from my home in Pearland tomorrow morning sometime between 7 AM and 8 AM to see what waze recommends as far as a route into Houston. Can you help us out with specific examples of what you’re seeing?
For example, one of your examples was that waze recommended using the express lane even though the HOT lane will be closed before you get to it. With that much information, I don’t know whether waze believed that you could get to the entrance ramp in 5 minutes or 15 minutes. If it’s 5 minutes the problem is with waze’s navigation before the HOT lane while its the HOT lane entrance ramp if its 15 minutes. It would really help if you could give a specific address for your starting point. If you’d prefer you could submit a map issue report at that place, and time, with my username kjg53, in the comment.
You also explained that waze has recommended three routes that all used the HOT lane. I’d really like to get more details on this one as that should a problem that we can report to waze staff. The waze app should be recommending one HOT lane route so that you have options. I’ll try to reproduce that one.
One that thing, please double check that the waze app still has your vehicle type set to private vehicle. All of this would make complete sense if the vehicle type was mistakenly set to motorcycle.
Thanks
Kevin
Kevin,
I just checked, and I guess the “Carpool” option was selected. Is that what you’re talking about?
I’ll run it again this PM and report back to see if that was the problem. It probably was - if results are better, I’ll just consider this a goof on my part and keep…keep on truckin.
Yes, that could be it waze may have assumed that a carpool guaranteed that you had 2+ occupants. Please let me know if this makes a difference.
The vehicle type is on the settings page. I believe that it is in either the navigation or care details subsection. You can tell waze that you have either a private vehicle, motorcycle, taxi, or electric vehicle. Waze knows that motorcyclists in our are can drive the HOV for free so that would be another way for waze to insist that the HOV was your best option.
The main point here is (AKA TL;DR): I’m still getting HOT Lane-centric route options even though I’ve taken off my carpool options and still have EZ Tag added.
So I’ve given this a few chances and it doesn’t appear to be much better.
CURRENT SETUP OPTIONS
I have confirmed that I am no longer in carpool mode, and have the EZ Tag added for travel on toll roads. I have the option to “Avoid Tolls” - Off. I have 3 basic options when the HOT lane is not accessible -
I-45 >> I-10 >> 610 >> 290
I-45 >> 610 (usually East) >> 290
I-45 >> BW8 >> 290 (I usually get off at W. Little York, but it’s basically 290)
TODAY’S AM COMMUTE
While en route from Home to Work at this approx location:
…I queried Waze for alternate routes to what was currently presented. As you can see, at ~07:30AM I’m already on a tack that takes me onto the Express Lane (2.4 miles away which closes from 6:30AM to 8AM to anything other than 2+ Hi-Occ Vehicles). There is no apparent traffic melee that would make me only travel 2.4 miles in 30-minutes to afford me the availability of the HOT Lane at that time. And, as I stated earlier, my carpool option is OFF.
After I shut down, restarted and cancelled the ROUTE RESUME challenge by Waze App, I was given the following route options during my AM commute today:
As you can see 2 Express Lane Options and a painful one through the heart of Downtown Houston.
I couldn’t manage to get a good shot of the estimated duration of the 3rd option, but it was similar to the other Express Lane Option.
See above for scheduled HOT Lane times.
What is frustrating is two things -
I ended up taking the Beltway - against my gut feeling and ended up getting to work a little before 8:30.
I probably would have done about the same going on the middle option in the Routes Option view above (“via Broadway St, I-45 N Houston”), but the Beltway is often much less stressful and WAAAAY easier - even if the time saved over the unpaid route is slower, that is sometimes worth it. At least it is to me.
I think what you guys need to do is add a “Super Commuter” option. People that travel from Home to Work more than “X” times a week && if that distance is over 50-miles - priority goes to ease of travel.
Personally, I’d rather an easier drive than careening through unfamiliar neighborhoods to save 1-minute of drive time. I understand that for people who don’t regularly travel long distances, the idea that you’ve added 4-miles to a commute to keep you moving to gain a couple extra minutes might be worth it, honestly, I’m resigned to the fact that there are just going to be times where I’ve got to crawl around Houston Highways in order to get to work.
Anyway, just a thought.
But the main point here is (AKA TL;DR): I’m still getting HOT Lane-centric route options even though I’ve taken off my carpool options and still have EZ Tag added.
That first screenshot of waze directing you to enter the HOT just north of Clear Lake City Blvd was a huge help. That particular entrance ramp was missing a restriction in the 6:30 AM - 8:00 AM period. I checked all of the other entrances too. The ramp has been fixed but it will take a few days for the change to reach your mobile device.
As for the routes that were displayed at 7:29 AM. I’ll check it out myself in the morning. This one will be more difficult as waze staff will have to agree that including the same express lane in more than one of the top routes is undesirable.
Have you tried selecting the Broadway St, I-45 route until you were past the first entrance ramp to the express lane and then recalculated to see what routes would be offered from that point? If you tried this waze would correctly believe that you were on the I-45 main lanes so it would calculate three routes from the freeway. Personally, I’d try recalculating 2-3 miles south of BW-8 to see what waze recommended at that point.
Thanks
Yeah, I do the recalc thing almost obsessively right up until the beltway.
Sometimes it offers me a BW option, sometimes not. Other times, it doesn’t even care and just assumes that I’m on the Express lane even when I stop route, close out the app, and then fire up and cancel the resume route option.
I left significantly later than usual this morning and have been off since last Wednesday. I’ll check it out. About to leave for the day, I’ll see what’s up with the PM commute. I seem to remember there not being as many issues on the afternoon drives.
Anyway, appreciate the help with this.
Thanks for the update. I tried myself this morning at 7. It was either a bad day for the express lane or I’ve actually fixed it from Dixie Farm Rd (Ellington Field) going north. Waze recommended BW-8, I-45, and surface streets in that order.
I can explain some of what you’re still encountering. When you turn waze off, then on, it will move your location on the map to the road segment that is closest to your GPS coordinates. If you are in the inside lane of the gulf freeway you’re probably closer to the express lane’s road segment than the gulf freeway’s road segment so waze will end up showing you in the express lane. The only way to avoid this is to move to one of the center, or even right, lanes before turning waze on.
If waze currently shows your vehicle on the correct road you can tap on the small blue arrow and then select Routes to see alternative routes without risking waze jumping your location across a concrete barrier.