A discussion came up in the GHO today regarding naming segments BGS that mention the George Washington Bridge. Ignoring punctuation and various abbreviations/non-abbreviations of the word bridge, it seems there are three common methods of signing the bridge. These are:
George Washington Br
Geo Washington Br
G Washington Br
There seem to be at least two schools of thought on how to handle this when translating from the BGS to Waze ramp/segments names:
Match the sign letter for letter. This means the displayed name will match the sign exactly, but for users of the Jane voice, they will hear “Gee” or “Geo” instead of George on signs where George is abbreviated.
Write out “George” even when it is abbreviated as “G” or “Geo”. This may be less surprising to users who are familiar with the bridge (or with George Washington) but does present a slight mismatch between the sign and the displayed name.
Please post your thoughts below (and your reasons for them) so we can hopefully reach a consensus on this. I’ll be cross-linking this from the NY forum as well, since users would probably expect us to handle this uniformly on both sides of the river.
IMHO, this is a no-brainer. Write out “George” so that the spoken directions are meaningful. There are oodles of cases where we write street names differently than they appear on road signs (example, “I-95 S” instead of “South Interstate 95”) in order to give clear directions to users. If anyone thinks Waze’s directions are somehow wrong or misleading because they say “George” where the sign says “Geo”, well, they are entitled to their opinion, but I do not think they represent a meaningful segment of the user population.
Also, do “Geo” and “G” read properly when Jane says it? I don’t think there are any approved abbreviations for the name George.
I assume Jane would say “Gee Washington Bridge” and “Gee-Oh Washington Bridge” which does tend to confuse people waiting to hear “George Washington Bridge.”
Agree with Russ - this is a no-brainer. Write out “George”.
I used to live a few miles north of the bridge. Locals and visitors knew it as the “GWB” or “George Washington Bridge”. Nobody called it the “Washington Bridge” or “G Washington Bridge”.
“G Washington Bridge” is an abbreviation on the sign that for no extra syllable cost can be spoken properly by Waze.
The only reason they sometimes use G and Geo is for space constraints. We sometimes have to be mindful of our own “space constraints” (very long and awkward segment names due to to complex BGS). If there are any where we need to consider shortening, let’s document them and discuss. Otherwise, I’m aboard with the above.
As someone that drives that way A LOT as I travel between PA and Long Island, the most important instruction on the bridge approach is Upper Level or Lower Level, as these can represent large time differences in crossing the bridge. PhantomSoul and I had already adjusted a few approaches for clarity by putting Upper Level and Lower Level earlier in the instruction (despite the order on the BGS). This is especially important as the new Android App cuts off the written directions unless it is in landscape mode.
My suggestion would be:
– On entrance ramps where navigation towards the bridge is important, spell out George for the TTS.
– When on roadway approaches along I-95 where no turns are required, then Upper Level and Lower Level are most important fro navigation. In these cases, G Washington Br is more succinct and will not affect directions or routing, but allows for more space to see Upper Level or Lower Level in the written directions, and a sooner TTS direction for the same.
I agree, and as seems to be current practice, I believe that when “upper level” or “lower level” appears on a GWB sign, it should be placed first in the instructions, regardless of where it appears on the signs. If we do that, then spelling out George shouldn’t matter.
AGreed on U/L and L/L coming first where they are the key instruction element, despite BGS ordering. If there is other important sign info, perhaps abbreviate to G W Brg. We can get a custom TTS for it, if we decide to go this way.
Sounds like the most important thing, by far, is that the name “George” is both displayed and announced correctly, though it can be shortened, but only after an overwhelming need to do so is established.
BTW, I don’t think anyone is questioning the decision to emphasize UL vs LL on the final approach to the bridge on I-95 in Leonia or Fort Lee or whatever town that fork is in.