We have drivers tell us Waze chooses the George Washington Bridge over the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge routinely even when the George Washington Bridge has backups or the Governor Mario M. Cuomo bridge is closer. I know there are many factors that go into route calculation but is it possible the default setting “Avoid Difficult Intersections” would bypass a faster route via the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and route via the George Washington Bridge? How do I know what is classified as a difficult intersection?
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Avoid difficult intersections would have no influence here - we only set intersections with that sparingly, and it’s usually where a user has to make a turn at an intersection that is physically difficult (e.g. trying to make a left turn onto a road that backs up across the intersection), has limited sight lines, etc. I don’t know of any set on interstates.
Do you have any examples from users of starting points and destinations? Routing across the Hudson River in general is complex, given it’s a geographic barrier with limited crossings that is also heavily built up with major roads on both sides. Where a user starts and ends probably will have more influence on how Waze will “prune” certain routes, in tandem with traffic and toll data (and a user’s avoid toll settings if they’re headed east across the river).
I just tried a few different routes from the I-80/I-287 split in Mahwah - given it’s a major decision point for those two bridges - to the NY/CT line on I-95. Looking at most times of day, Waze is preferring the Cuomo Bridge over the GW, so I’m seeing the opposite of what folks are saying (LiveMap Link to Route). I can personally say I recently drove from Allentown, PA to Providence, RI, and Waze only offered me routes on the Cuomo Br - I couldn’t force it to even offer the GW that Google Maps said was 40 minutes slower at the time.
Thank you for the clarification on difficult intersections. I have sent your response to our operations staff to see if they can provide specific examples. This has been very helpful.
One of our other editors shared an example from Rockland County to the Bronx with me, and it seems the Palisades Pkwy to the GWB is consistently a few minutes faster than the Thruway (and 7 miles shorter). I’m going to play around with the timing and see if there are times the MCB is preferred, but even from Sloatsburg it seems NJ Route 17 is preferred over I-87 due to it’s slightly faster and shorter route. Any examples you can get from your staff are appreciated!
Just a side note - us editors are happy to help out with any changes on the map that are within your jurisdiction. We’ve been a bit behind with the closing and reopening of some of the service area rebuilds, as we’re dependent on users reporting to us that they are reopen if we don’t check your website often enough. We’d love to get the new road layouts and charger locations accurate if that is something you can provide.
We can also enter construction or accident closures that your feed may not provide through the Waze partnership already, as it appears they don’t always come through the 511NY / NYSDOT feed. A few of us already work closely with entities like the PA Turnpike, and that lets us get construction zone speed limits, crossovers, etc. accurately portrayed in the app. We are also the ones that enter toll price estimates, so we’re happy to check on any where folks might report to you that they are wrong.
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Coming from Eastchester it always suggests all routes through GWB. If I force it to use Mario Cuomo Bridge by adding a stop it is usually just a few minutes longer and much less stressful. Please add a way to “avoid” specific roads or bridges.
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