I’ve been using WAZE extensively for at least 15-years, as well as Google Maps. Comparing the two for the same trip I’ve found that WAZE always favors the shortest travel time over the shortest mileage. It will sometimes give a route that’s up to two miles or more longer just to save a minute or less of travel time. With gas prices soaring this minimizing my mileage makes a lot more sense than saving a minute.
Is there a setting in WAZE I can use to make WAZE favor the shortest distance?
-Carl from Seattle, WA.
There used to be options to choose between shortest distance and fastest time (and I think there was a third option), but Waze got rid of them and now just use the “best” time. It isn’t always the fastest time or the shortest distance. Sometimes, Waze will favor a more reliable route that gives a more accurate ETA. It often ends up being the fastest time for me, but not always.
I would recommend either adding a suggestion or upvoting one (or more) of the similar suggestions in the Waze Suggestion Box. Waze staff reviews popular suggestions and has implemented many of them. They don’t monitor this forum.