This UR complains that routing does not use the ferry.
Can anyone tell me if the ferry road type is supported? The editing manual is still saying no, but that’s as of Feb 2014 and the page last updated this month.
Thanks
David
isn’t the road type supposed to be the same as the road in either side?
According to the international manual, yes. However this was last edited by a senior UK editor so I’m presuming there is a reason for the ferry road type being used.
Ferry road type is a new thing, and we’ve been testing how we they work. Or not.
I’ve done some testing, and found that I can get a (secondary) route if I pick points on opposite sides of ferry. I can also get a primary route if I select ‘shortest’ route instead of ‘fastest’. So, the ferry road type is kinda routable.
I’ll talk to Waze about it…
One of the things Waze values in a route (when set to fastest) is predictability.
The usually-quoted example is where one route goes over a railway level crossing, and an alternative uses a bridge. The level crossing is quicker on average, but it’s time is quite variable because the barrier comes down sometimes and causes delays at unpredictable (to Waze) times. Whereas the bridge route is much less variable. Waze would normally choose the bridge. It likes the predicted arrival time shown on the screen to be as reliable as possible.
I wonder whether the same algorithm is leading it to prefer the predictable but (normally) slower dry land route; ferries crossing times are inherently unpredictable due to the variable wait time. In this case, their website says it takes 4 minutes but only runs every 20 minutes, giving Waze a time fluctuating unpredictably in the range 4-24 minutes - I can see why Waze might prefer to put the dry land route at the top of the list!
I don’t really see it as a problem so long as the “routes” button offers the ferry as an option. Waze offers guidance, but the user is still expected to have a brain and be able to make choices. I’ve just asked Waze for a route from a Sandbanks hotel to the National Trust car park on the far side of the ferry. First choice is a land route, estimate 46 minutes; second choice ferry, estimate 11 minutes.
This is an extreme case, but I would always advise people to look at the choice of “routes” rather than just allow Waze to get on with the top one on the list. Predictability and ferries aside, Waze is fanatical about the fastest route (when set to “fastest”) and will cheerfully take you an extra 20 miles to save 30 seconds. If, while wanting a quick route, you also want to keep milage down, it’s essential to check “routes” before starting out (and after any recalculation).
The great unknown (to me) in this is whether the mapping as “ferry” rather than “street” (or highway) as any effect on routing.
Ian
PS I’ve added a time restriction to the ferry to reflect the fact that it doesn’t run overnight.
Add in that it can often take 30 minutes or more to get through the queue for the ferry, or even longer during the summer months, the land would definitely be more reliable. I’ve stayed at the Sandbanks Hotel and on a summer Saturday morning, the ferry queue can stretch back that far, compounded by the queue for the beach car park.
Waze say this shouldn’t happen, and are looking into it…
Thanks. Do you want me to leave the UR open for now?
Yes please, then we can inform the user when it is eventually fixed.
(“soon”)