Past week I-87 Adirondak Northway was blocked off completely. Of course Wazers could not go over stretch of highway from exit #7 to Exit #8 ( long stretch ). How can or should you report of total highway closure ( in this caase Northbound ). We had to exit long before the actual closure and the construction was unannounced and also was not planned ahead of time at all.
Also side roads were gridlocked due to traffic detoured to Route #9 North. It was one of the worst traffic jams I can remember during morning commute. :shock:
What is the best way to alert other Wazers?
Oh! When you looked on map on Wazer map all looked like it was clear carefree driving all the way! Ha! All I wondered was why is Rte #9 all tied up. And to make matters worse TV and Radio stations were not alerted at all by DOT until later and due to fog, cameras did not show the construction of traffic detours.
This is a good question. Here on O’ahu there is a bridge that will be shut down for repairs. What is the appropriate procedure for a temporary shut down of a major road/hwy?
Be aware due to the infrastructure changes, the map update cycle is pretty long right now, but we’re getting back to more regular updates, so I would only make changes if the road will be closed for more than a month or so…
"There is no need to edit the map for lane closures " - from Waze web site info
Wow! A two lane closure here on the Northbound side of Northway during rush hour is for practical reasons a stand still. When highway crews setup at 6:00 am not so bad, in less than an hour it is a disaster for commuters, by 7:30 it creates gridlock on surrounding roads in a very short time. One lane closure is pretty much a slow down northbound, southbound in the morning is bad, real bad!
Remember “editing the map” is different than “reporting” an incident. A map edit doesn’t make it to the phone app instantly (could be days, weeks or even months depending on the update cycle and other work Waze is doing on the back end), while a report goes out immediatly (with a slight delay - seconds to minutes). Both effect routing, but a change in the map (say disconnecting a bridge that will be closed for months while it is replaced) will force the routing engine to not even consider that route. Traffic detected by Waze will effect routing, but that route will still be considered - sometimes sitting in traffic on the highway is still better than taking a side street with all it’s traffic & stop lights and such…
Not currently available. But you can report Hazards & Traffic.
OK, I got it. Now how do I report the traffic & Hazard? Without warning all traffic is detoured off the highway to an ajoining highway. How can I warn other Wazers of the traffic situation on the highway the State Police just detoured us off of? ( I hope this makes sense )
Thanks yet again
Unfortunately the only way to really get the jam reported is to be the first Wazer stuck in the jam. Traffic reports by Wazers really don’t have much input on the routing, it’s the traffic flow data reported by your phone behind the scene (with you clicking on the confirmation when Waze asks you if you are stuck in traffic,) that really alters the routing for other Wazers. Basically someone has to be the guinea pig to get the slowdown reported.
As to the original question. If it’s just a jam due to an accident or short term construction there is really nothing you can do, except be caught in the jam so it gets reported out to other Wazers, or have someone else get caught in it for your benefit.
If it’s long term (month or more) then you can edit the road, label it a construction zone (doesn’t do anything for the routing algorithms but can get drivers aware of the potential for issues, or actually disconnect when a road is closed for a long term.
Recently we had I680 closed for over 6 hours due to officer involved shooting and closed both directions Waze needs an option Road Closed as a report this way it can let other know if they travel that direction.
Only if the Wazers don’t have them disabled, personally I find chitchats dangerous annoyances that don’t belong in a nav app and turned them off. I’m driving not chit-chating.
There were a bunch of us stuck in a unique situation this (9/19/2012) AM. A large section of Plymouth Meeting and Blue Bell PA were closed due to a police officer funeral.
If you want data on what happens when a large area is closed to all but a few cars (those attending the funeral were allowed in, I would guess at least some of them were Wazers). This would be your chance.
It would have been nice if Waze stoped trying to send me down roads that it knew no one else was using. If a road normally has 5 cars on it every minute and then it drops down to one car every 4 min, then you should probably stop sending other people down that road. Especially if you keep trying to send people down that road, and the majority of them don’t turn.
Thanks! Love the product.
Altough I did get a lot of greif when I reported a police officer location and it was posted to my facebook. My family members who are police officers took great offence to this. As a result I will NOT be posting any more police locations. Why in the world tell facebook where the police are?! who does that help?
The same reasons that the police release information about DWI Checkpoints, Special Enforcement Areas, that they will be out in full force on Holiday Weekends, when Truck Check 20## is… It’s all about safety…
By the way, you can turn off the post to facebook/twitter features in Waze…
Not sure why police officers get so upset about warning people of the fact that they are working a section of road. Does it not have the desired effect of their presence. Slowing people down. Of course they get upset because it cuts into their ability to make ticket quota’s or just generate revenue, but if they were to step back and think about why they claim to conduct speed enforcement they should not be the least bit upset that you are telling people “Hey slow down, or you’ll get a ticket!”
Okay so I really do know why they get upset, but it makes them hypocrites when they do get upset at someone else who is trying to get people to slow down.
Here the police love it when people send out warnings via texts etc. Because due to the way communication works etc then some people would still get warning even AFTER the police has left the area and thus will slow down. And if people just drives slow due to the warning while the police are there?, well then their job is more or less done.
