I have been using Waze for quite a while now and I have noticed that more and more editor functions are being pushed up to higher levels.
The problem with this is that the higher levels seem have very little local knowledge when it comes to map issues.
I recently put in a map issue regarding a wrong driving direction given by Waze. It was for the intersection of Main Ave and Newman RD in Nundah QLD. The problem is that the intersection had a set of traffic lights installed over 6 months ago to make the intersection the easiest right hand turn onto Newman RD.
The editor who looked at my request just sent me a message telling me to turn off avoid difficult turns in the Waze app.
This is not a solution to the navigation issue because the solution would have been to actually understand the issue and remove the difficult turn from this intersection and add it to the other roads nearby.
As a level 1 Editor who drives a lot of these roads daily I used to be able to go onto the Map editor and solve issues with roads I had driven on in the last couple of days or I would go out and drive it myself if it was nearby so i could understand the problem first hand.
Now with these functions being moved away from the people who actually drive these roads you are making Waze a far more unreliable app than it used to be.
The reason some editor abilities are restricted is because many level 1 editors believe they can solve an issue, go in and edit it, then damage the map as a result.
The higher level on some segments/functions is to prevent this from happening. This does not mean you cannot edit in certain areas or even improve the map. We have a lot of experienced editors in Australia, and most would be willing to help you if you asked for an unlock on certain things.
We also have Discord server for all Aussie map editors, where all our communicative editors are, and if you need it, they can offer guidance, and/or mentoring. We can also do simple unlocks/updates here too. The invite link is: https://discord.gg/xHrVPTR
I’ve sort of encountered the same issue. My editing usage is mainly as a road warrior - flagging the issues while out on the road via the app.
One particular toll road I travel on occasionally had some road works with reduced speed limit from 100 to 80, however the speed restriction was set up to be timed with other works happening several kilometres east. So despite some works being finished and the restriction lifted, Waze still reported the lower speed. I flagged this in the app as a map issue multiple times before I found the time to log on to the editor and check things out.
I see the sense in raising levels to avoid creating bigger problems, but issues flagged by users or lower level editors need to be addressed.
Out of curiosity, how did you report these speed limit changes? Using the “Report an issue” -> Speed limit?
Because if you did that, it goes to no one, unfortunately, they disabled that report type in our editor.
The best way to report a speed limit change is using “General issue” as the report type, and then type in the speed limit issue you had. I’m not 100% sure why the speed limit reports go nowhere, but that’s unfortunately how it is.
The simple reason is “HQ’s inability to deal with them sensibly”.
When the report type was first added, the map was massively spammed with speed limit reports - because speed limits was a relatively new feature and we hadn’t had a chance to set most speed limits. The app also tends to be a little slow to show when a speed limit changes, so many reports were made by users who, 5 seconds later, saw the correct speed limit anyway - or would have done if they weren’t reporting. :lol:
Then HQ tried to merge speed limit reports. But despite lots of input on sensible ways to do this (I even sought input from a professional statistician - my Dad!), they did it in a very crude way which threw away almost all the positional information of the original reports and made the consolidated reports pretty much useless. They didn’t even distinguish between reports in different directions. This also destroyed the ability to communicate with the original reporters: the consolidated UR could only communicate with the first reporter at that location.
At some point, they shifted all the speed limit URs to WME Beta only. That cleared the measles from the production map, but severely limited the number of editors who could deal with them.
Eventually, and still facing complaints from editors, HQ decided to get rid of speed limit URs. They did this by black-holing them, but didn’t bother updating the app to remove the ability to report speed limit errors. I’m not even sure if that’s been done yet - and they’ve been black-holing the reports for many months.
Good to know why my reports went unnoticed then! :lol: :lol:
I’ve been pondering this a little more, my guess is that it would be becoming harder and harder for lower level map editors to contribute and raise their experience / level given the things we can actually edit become less and less (i.e. less things to be changed).
Has it been considered to allow editors to make and submit more complex edits for approval before being released/published?
As the map in metro areas become more mature, new developments are mapped appropriately and any recent changes that are brought to our attention are dealt with appropriately and swiftly then ideally you should see a decline in update requests and things that require clean up.
However, as the popularity and usage of Waze in Australia increases, the more likely people will be interested in editing the map and new and inexperienced editors will make mistakes, even if they are guided and follow Australian mapping expectations. Even more experienced ones do, we still need to learn and grow!
Don’t worry too much about levels or moving up the ranks at this point as we all had to start somewhere. How much time we devote to editing is each individual’s preference, we are only volunteers after all.
I know you have access to the Bayside, but you can PM me your editable area when you have time. I am more than happy to guide you.
