HNs and RPPs

Map Editors Community House Numbers (Addresses)
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My apologies if this sounds like a noob question, but do keep in mind I have only been editing for about two weeks now.

I would like to understand better about the relationship between RPPs and HNs. I’ve done the required reading in the wiki and the forums, but nothing I have seen seems to properly explain the relationship between the two. Here’s what I’ve gathered thus far (please correct me if I have spoken erroneously):

  • New roads must have HNs attached or they will not be added.
  • HNs are searchable points attached to a road segment, with the stop point placed along the segment about where you you would reasonably drive to.
  • HNs as they are presently create havoc in rural areas where many addresses are served by the same primary road along a common driveway. In these cases either an edit to include the driveway or an RPP is more appropriate.
  • RPPs are preferred in favor of HNs as they are more correctly located. The Waze searchable database will find an RPP before an HN, although RPPs are not searchable. (?)

In my limited time editing and learning, I have taken to small potatoes, editing in my subdivision and surrounding areas. I am in a new phase of my subdivision and not everything shows well on any maps outside Waze. I took joy in driving new streets in the area not on the map and seeing them added with subsequent tile updates. The same was true for my home address. Prior to adding the HNs for my street, Waze would place a point in the middle of my street (it’s a short loop) about where the Google point would be. I added all the HNs and after one or two tile updates, the lovely house icon that marks my home was exactly where I placed it and directions go to it. While this was a rather small victory of a few hundred feet, I claimed it nonetheless because I finally had something that went directly to “my” house instead of just the street.

Then I learned more about RPPs and felt conflicted. The idea of these points is not lost on me, but begs the question as to why both are used. If RPPs are not searchable, if I created one for my house, why would that be better than what I already created which worked? I essentially created a place point on top of my house with a stop point at the front of my driveway which anyone could search for and be led directly to my house. The wiki on HN placement explains this well. An RPP would move the stop point 50-100 feet or so into my driveway but the difference is seemingly negligible. Additionally, as an editor, it would seem ideal to add HNs to houses in new subdivisions (provided you have the correct info, of course). Should these HNs instead be created as RPPs by the editor? I can conceivably create an RPP just as accurately as an HN using the aerial image. I understand the HNs aren’t going away, but I don’t understand the relationship of the two and why one is preferred to the other. No page in the wiki explains this either and since both are available and are used, could create confusion… unless it’s just me.

2

Welcome to map editing, jalondon628, and we are glad you are here on the forum, too.

First remember that simpler is better.

To answer your questions…

Incorrect. A new road drawn in WME will appear in the app whether it has HNs or not.

Depends. The vast majority of HNs (at least in North America) are imported from Google Maps data. Until they have been nudged (manually bumped/edited by an editor), they really don’t do anything except show where the Google pin for that parcel is, and their attachment points are not considered by Waze at all. Google pin search results will take you down whatever road goes closest to where that pin happens to be, obviously not always the desired result. If they have been nudged or were manually created, then a Waze search will result in navigation that takes you to where the HN attachment point is on its parent road, ideally in front of the house or at the mouth of its driveway.

Yes, as described above, imported and “un-nudged” HNs are really basically returning results from Google, and often are problematic in rural areas. An edit to nudge the HN and place its attachment point at the mouth of the driveway is appropriate.

An RPP is appropriate when a simple HN attachment will not suffice to provide navigation to a specific address. For example, four rural homes with a shared driveway off the road from which they are all addressed. You could move the attachment point for all four HNs to the mouth of the common driveway, but Wazers would then be advised they had arrived as soon as they reached that driveway entrance and not know where to go from there. In this case, RPPs provide better guidance to where the home is actually located on the unnamed driveway. Similarly, RPPs are valuable when a home is accessed from a named road which is different than that which it is addressed from. In those cases, it is preferred to delete its HN and use only an RPP so that no search results are possible that will direct anyone to try to access that location on the road from which it can’t be accessed.

It is not necessary or even always advisable to use both HNs and RPPs.

In all things, make it as simple as possible, and remove anything that could lead to confusion or misdirection.

Certainly others will chime in with their interpretations and offer differing additional pointers.

Good questions, thanks. Welcome to the community!

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Also, do not worry about apologizing or asking noob questions. While there is documentation out there for just about everything, it is not always easy to find it. We would much rather new editors be more like you, asking questions, which shows your thoughtfulness to do no harm and your desire to understand. Instead of you apologizing to us, the correct stance is for us to say “thanks” to you for your help.

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I’m glad this subject came up. I had a discussion recently with a new user who asked why we wouldn’t just simply add RPPs and PPs to begin with. I went with the explanation to keep it simple and to utilize RPPs when routing becomes an issue. Users can add their own RPP as well for their own use.

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jalondon628 you are in good company. This topic has come up by a couple of folks recently. By adding the HNs we are in effect telling Waze to go with the editor added address instead of pulling the Google pins for location. RPPs can in effect be used to replace the HN however they are less agile in that they will add the stop point to the nearest segment as opposed to having the flexibility that using HNs can provide. Like SeveriorumPatrem mentioned they are extremely handy when there are unusual circumstances like set-back locations or with driveways longer than 165 feet.

This is a great topic that deserves some more input.

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