Morning,
Since becoming L2 I’ve obviously been receiving URs in WME. I’ve dealt with a few where the request has been clear and I’ve been able to.
I’ve read the UK Guidelines on dealing with URs and also another post but I can’t find anything to answer my question which is; should we attempt to deal with URs where it is obvious that an edit will need to be made to a segment(s) above our lock level by making the request on the UK Editor Requests page, or, should we just ignore these thinking that an AM/CM/L4 editor will see it soon enough and deal with it themselves? So far, I’ve gone with the latter.
If you can see the error or want to spend the time to investigate and find a solution then yes, by all means reply to the UR and make a request in the forum, it’s the reason it’s there
If the issue isn’t obvious it might be better to leave it a few days but if a UR sits for a week (arbitrary number), then again reply to the UR asking for further details.
If you see a UR that has been replied to for more detail but the error is obvious it is also fine to add your input to point out the changes needed.
OK, cheers. Didn’t know if the AM’s did a regular sweep and therefore I’d be adding an unnecessary step. I know kkervinjones regularly responds to URs in my area so just conscious of stepping on toes…
Personally, I’d be only too happy if more lower-ranked editors in my AM area responded to URs even if then meant they needed to escalate some of them via the requests forum, because in this part of the country there are more than enough URs to keep a bunch of editors occupied on an almost full-time basis…
As I see it, responding to a UR serves two purposes:
it allows for obvious problems to be dealt with ASAP, and for non-obvious problems to begin the process of requesting further information from the reporter (and the resultant addition of the comment marker to the UR pin then makes it clear to other editors that this is an issue requiring further attention, allowing them to chip in with any info of their own, as t’other Chris has mentioned)
and (IMO) more importantly
it lets the user who submitted the UR know that it hasn’t just fallen into a black hole at Waze Server Central, but has actually been looked at by a fellow human being who’s either then been able to fix the problem, or wants to fix the problem but needs their help to do so.
In both cases, I regard getting an initial response back to the user as quickly as possible as THE important point, so if a lower ranked editor is free to get that response sent out before anyone else then have at it! Fixing map issues is clearly important to us not just as map editors but also as end users, but we’re in the privileged position of being able to understand how the whole reporting system works from tapping on the report button in the app to seeing the UR pins appear in WME, how long it can realistically take for those pins to show up in the first place and for one of us to then get that initial response back to a user, how much information we’re (not) provided with regarding the route taken, destination chosen etc., and we should never forget that almost all the users who send in reports DON’T have that end to end understanding of the process.
Therefore the sooner we initiate contact with them the better, so that they’re not left completely in the dark wondering WTF happened to their report - the quicker we respond, the more encouraging it is to the user to get that initial response so quickly and the more likely they are to then want to report other stuff in future, and in cases where we’re needing their help to provide more information the less likely they are to have forgotten what prompted them to send the report in the first place.
Just don’t forget to make sure you’ve checked around the area for map comments - there are some parts of the map where URs are generated on a regular basis (e.g. due to misleading real-world signage appearing to contradict the instructions Waze is giving) where we definitely don’t want editors making changes to what might at first glance look like an obvious error…
Sometimes though (and I’m guilty of this myself), the easy and obvious UR’s are cherry picked and solved, the difficult ones or the ones on motorways sometimes get ignored.
There are some guidelines on ‘unclear’ URs in the wiki - basically an element of cherry-picking from new URs if some can be closed quickly is fine and it’s OK to leave other if they are new (i.e. yellow) and there is an active AM but if there’s no AM or they are older then you really should post a reply, even if only to acknowledge the report and politely ask for some more information.
I have a standard reply for this so it only takes a moment and then keep an eye on the WME Feed for replies or use the UR-MP Tracking script to come back to them if the reporter replies or to close them after a week or so if there’s no resonse.
It is frustrating when I am ‘mopping up’ really old area and I can see that someone has answered some other URs in the area, but left others to go red.
Very true, although sometimes the problem can be due to delays in the drives/UR processing pipeline causing reports to suddenly show up a week or two late - the number of times I’ve been absolutely certain that I’d cleared an area, only to then revisit it a few days later and see a bunch of red UR pins, isn’t funny any more.
I also sometimes wonder how many URs also get missed by other editors due to them not running scripts which help expose all the URs in their area, leading to them clearing out all the URs they think are present at the time they visit an area, without realising that there might be a bunch more being hidden by WME (due to them being in a stack, or because of the 500UR limit). I find I’m often left clearing up odd URs where another editor has responded to one UR at that location already, but there’s another UR there sent at the same time that’s been left untouched.
Just in addition to this but specifically regarding closure requests raised by Elgin. There are over 90 in my editable area and I cannot deal with these closures myself. I’ve no problem posting here but this would take an age and flood the board. Should I try to tackle these or leave them to the AM?
Elgin closure requests appear in WME as map problem (MP) markers rather than as URs, and so fall somewhat outside the scope of the UR guidelines.
Whilst it’s not ideal to have MPs left to go stale, because there isn’t a user on the other end of the MP wondering why no-ones responded to them yet or forgetting what it was they’d reported once someone does respond to them, the desire to deal with MPs sooner rather than later is then purely down to a question of what it is they’re being used to highlight.
e.g. if a MP is reporting a road closure that’s either already in progress, or is imminent, then getting a corresponding RTC applied in Waze might be critical. Or it might not. It depends a)if the road is actually closed and b) if it’s on a road where failing to have it marked in Waze as closed would cause genuine problems. Equally, if it’s a MP referring to a closure of an important road, but where the closure isn’t imminent, then whilst it’s something we do need to be aware of, it’s not something that necessarily needs to be dealt with asap, so can be left a little while if there’s other more urgent stuff to be dealt with in the area.
It’s also worth mentioning that, depending on how proactive your local editors are in checking road closure details elsewhere, the necessary changes may already have been made in Waze before these Elgin MPs became visible.
So in summary, keeping the map clear of reports of all types is a good thing, but it’s rare that we have sufficient editing resources available to do so, or at least to maintain it for longer than a few days if we ever do achieve it. Prioritisation/triaging of the reports that are dealt with is therefore an important first step, both when deciding which ones to deal with yourself and also when deciding which to escalate to a higher ranked editor.
That said, if you genuinely do have concerns over the number of open reports within a reasonably well defined area (e.g. one which can be viewed in it’s entirety at zoom level 0) then posting the permalink to that area rather than each individual report would suffice - particularly if you’ve already dealt with as many of the ones you can deal with already, such that the area contains mostly/solely those reports that you’d have been asking for help with individually anyway.
There are loads particularly around Sheffield & Leeds. There’s a bunch at M62 J28 which appear to be active at the moment according to the data provided. As I say I was just conscious of flooding the board with requests when in an ideal world you’d want an L3 editor/AM to quietly add the closures themselves without having to post requests.
Hopefully my request to be an AM will be accepted so at least I can help out
Hi Titchy_, as an AM in Sheffield, but not local to the area (I’m mostly NW based), I’d welcome someone helping with closures in that area. Hopefully you will be approved to be AM soon.
One thing to bear in mind with the Sheffield Elgin reports. Quite often the closures requests are for simple ‘footway resurfacing’. These request mostly are superfluous, as not only are only affecting the footpaths and not roads, they are usually added onto the map in bulk with large date ranges. You’ll probably find yourself marking them as ‘not relevant’ more often than not. A similar thing happens in the Manchester council area. I would suggest you also click on the roadworks.org link and also investigate via the council website if the closure is for real or not.
Just been looking at the road closures in Sheffield and they’re a nightmare. Lots of them have a duration of 3 months for simple work like installing a dropped kerb or pedestrian crossing. It says it’s in progress but that just appears to be because we’re between the scheduled start and end dates. There’s no way we can apply road closures with such unclear information. One major road is supposedly closed for a year. Obviously it’s not and I even drove down it the other day.
Should we just leave these map problems in WME or mark them down as irrelevant data?
If a map problem is not useful - too long a period; minor works not affecting the carriageway; impossible to determine closed segments etc - mark it as irrelevant. I’m not sure if that’s fed back to even Elgin, never mind the responsible LA, but it’s better that we assume it will be used and give proper feedback.
I also have a comment about “cherry-picking” easy-to-solve URs. Two things I bear in mind here. The first is that we are all volunteers. I would never like anyone to feel that they are obligated to work on the Waze map, although taking on an area as an AM does come with a degree of voulunteered responsibility.
The other is that an easily-solved UR is a piece of map improved and that’s never a bad thing. The user who has made an effort to give you enough information to solve a map problem deserves an answer. The hundreds of users who leave “general error” reports with no text in the middle of long stretches of dual carriageway will mostly never respond anyway.
So is there any correlation between the MPs raised by Elgin and the contruction markers on the live map and in the client, which are also reported by Elgin. Are these two separate things or would removing the MP also remove the construction markers? I’ve checked one location and they’re in the same place.
I just wouldn’t want to be removing any construction markers for the sake of de-cluttering WME, as these can be useful, even if Waze doesn’t route around them.
MPs in the MWE are separate to the Alerts markers in the App. You can safely close MPs without affecting the in App markers. They are generated by the same system.
Timbones has set up a system to remove in App markers if they are irrelevant, if you add a comment to them with something obvious like ‘gone’ or 'not there. They should be removed after 2 weeks if they don’t get a thumbs up also.
I have the same problem on the Isle of Wight where the MP will run for a week or so - which is effectively the period for which the TRO has been granted and the work will take place at some point within those dates. You have to go to the council website to find the detailed information from the Island Roads teams to try and work out exactly where they will be on which day or night. That will then tell you that some of the ‘closures’ are actually just works under traffic light or stop/go traffic management and even with the real closures my experience has shown that it’s not 100% accurate as to the exact times of a closure. :roll:
The result is that most days I have better things to do with my editing time.
If the council for your area uses roadworks.org (and not all of them do), then you may find it helpful to create one or more “alerts” on roadworks.org.
You can do this by selecting the envelope icon on the left-hand side. I get “daily” and “weekly” alerts of “high impact” public events & roadworks for each local authority (wholly or partly) in my AM area.
You then need to ignore everything that’s not a road closure - most of them will be something like “traffic control (2-way signals)”. Also ignore anything from Highways England, Tim’s Closure Monitor should deal with those. And finally, ignore anything you’ve already dealt with; I use a spreadsheet to keep track and make sure I don’t investigate anything twice.
If you find this is taking more time than you are prepared to put in, cut down to just looking at classified roads.
