Please forgive me if this isn’t the correct forum for this question. If there is a better or more
appropriate forum then please let me know.
I use Waze when I need directions but I also use if for general commuting for updates on
safety or traffic issues. One of the things I have noticed on my daily commute is that Waze
frequently (but not consistently) recommends a different (and longer) route (5-10 min slower
on a 30 min trip). When I ignore the directions, Waze chirps, recalculates a new route, and
then shows the updated (shorter) ETA. Why did it choose the longer/slower route to begin with?
Almost makes me want to double check with a different GPS for trips in areas where I am not
familiar with the most likely route.
Bonjour,
Je confirme le questionnement de mschlossNH car j’ai plusieurs fois rencontré le même problème sans être capable de dire sur quel itinéraire précisément.
Je vais essayer de revenir ici pour soumettre un itinéraire présentant ce problème.
Merci à tous.
Merci de privilégier les messages en anglais sur la section globale du forum, surtout si c’est dans un topic ne contenant que des messages et un titre dans cette langue. Sinon -> forum France
Free translation of the previous post. He’s saying: Hello,
I can confirm mschlossNH’s interrogation because I’ve encountered the same problème several times without being able to say precisely on which itinerary.
I’ll try to come back here to submit a route which contains this issue.
Thank you all.
Problem is still present. Example route:
Spit Brook Rd, Nashua NH => Windham High School, Windham NH
Typical route recommends Wason Rd (which is good as it avoids significant traffic)
but then suggests a left on Burns Hill Rd (which is questionable at best).
When I continue straight on Wason Rd it recalculates and reports an earlier ETA.
If the algorithm determines that this is the faster route then why does it not
recommend it prior to Burns Hill Rd?
A similar issue takes place further along on Wason Rd. It recommends a
RIGHT turn onto Bush Hill Rd when a LEFT onto Bush Hill Rd to Speare Rd
is faster. Again, when I ignore the direction and make the LEFT Waze then
recalculates and reports the new, earlier ETA.
I’ve been noticing a similar thing myself for a long time, and finally decided to look around the forums to see if anyone is discussing it…
I use Waze daily for my commutes between San Francisco (Haight) and Foster City, CA. It helps me avoid congestion, but I also frequently find it worth ignoring some of its suggestions for routes that differ from ones that I know well, prefer, and when I take them instead of Waze suggestions, are faster. Frequently, shortly after I make the “wrong” turn, my arrival time estimate drops by a minute or two. So why did Waze not suggest that in the first place?
For example, on the return route to San Francisco during commute hours, Waze generally takes me off 101 at 280, to the Alemany exit, then up via Mission and Richland toward Twin Peaks on Miguel. The upper part of Miguel is only one lane wide, so you need to slow down and pull aside to let oncoming cars pass. I prefer not to take it for that reason, and the alternate route up Addison is two lanes all the way, and never slower than the route via Miguel.
So several questions here that reveal my lack of knowledge about how Waze routing and maps really work:
There have been complaints from residents on the upper part of Miguel (and even newspaper articles about the problem), so you’d think by now Waze would downgrade those routes, preferring them for local traffic only. Waze has that sort of annotation in its maps doesn’t it?
Waze by now presumably “knows” how frequently I ignore its advice and turn left off Miguel at Bemis to go up Addison. Doesn’t information about my preferred routes play at least some role when Waze chooses a route for me?
There are times when Waze so blatantly offers me a suboptimal route that I have come to suspect its routers of sending some “lab rats” up alternates that it doesn’t have enough current statistics for, just to check them out. Am I being overly paranoid?
Same type of thing happens in the morning, when the generally best route to 101 from the Haight involves getting onto the Central Freeway at Octavia. Routes other than Oak (e.g.: Page or Haight) are often better. But I have learned to ignore Waze initial suggestions to go over Buena Vista to 14th then Duboce, and get on the Central Freeway at S. Van Ness. Again, after I ignore the initial turn onto Buena Vista, my predicted arrival time usually improves.
No. There’s no way (I know of) of telling waze to discard some routes if the traffic is local.
As far as I know, Waze does not base routing decisions on how many times you’ve ignored some routes, nor does it store “preferred routes” for any user.
Routing is a complex topic, and how Waze makes it work is proprietary information, so any advice on this subject is speculation at best. So, take all of this with a grain of salt.
I also see thos issue on my frequent routes. Waze often, but not every time, wants to take me 5 extra miles out of my way (same basic arrival time). Rhe way it wants to take me is a major highway vs. A well traveled side road. I thought it was traffic related because it will calculate the side road at busier traffic times. This is in Mass traveling SR 128/95 going to North Reading/Wilmington line. It will calculate exit 40 to Haverhill St. But often calculates exit 37 Rt. 93 North to exit 40 Rt. 62 off of 93. There are other examples as well but this one is easy to explain. Is there a way to report these to make the app better?
