So what happens if we add a station that is not on the map (or that we don’t realize is 10 miles away)?
Right now, per the OP, nothing. Waze is “working on” getting our added stations their full functionality (in the app).
I don’t think new “Landmark” stations show up in the gas station services until they are synced with this external system, no?
Further, I suspect something might be getting out of sync, maybe in error, when you move a linked gas station more than maybe a couple hundred feet. We have a situation in NJ (described in the NJ forum) where someone tried to correct the location of a gas station by moving it and it completely stopped working at both the old and new spots.
Anyone else have this happen?
We just don’t have enough information. It would make MORE sense that we can add stations to Waze which have been (forever) missing and have them work, regardless of status with the external provider.
I have not, but I’m not sure I’ve moved any more than a couple hundred feet. I can confirm that regardless of the fact that I have moved dozens, none of them show in search results at their new location.
I moved one about a mile and it still works, but from its original location. Name or brand changes show up in minutes or even seconds on the client.
Okay, a few observations about the gas stations…
As CrackedLCD said, changes to the gas station name and phone number show instantly in the client. It’s great for checking names…just pull up a list of nearby gas stations and see if any are in ALL CAPS or spelled wrong, or just the wrong name (Unbranded).
However, this instant change in the client must be new behavior. I’m coming across stations that I edited the names on when we first got the import and they’re still in ALL CAPS and wrong. Sketch did a bunch of work on gas stations on the 24th and those changes don’t show in the list. If I go in and add a . to the end (or make any other kind of change) and save, the name instantly changes.
What doesn’t work and really needs to is the address. Obviously, the location of the station is not dependent on the address field being filled in. The client list shows the address of the station even though it’s blank in the editor. However, some of the stations are mislocated, and changing the address in the editor should also change the address in the client list and change the location of the pin on the client. This is not happening. The addresses I’ve corrected don’t make any difference whatsoever. Relocating the landmark doesn’t relocate the pin either. The location of the pin doesn’t have any relation to the imported address either.
I have a station that shows the address as 617 N Broad. But the pin is around 300 S Broad, 9 blocks from where it’s supposed to be. There’s no gas station where the pin is. The station at 617 N Broad has a user-added landmark from a while back, and it’s in the client list with the correct name and location. Based on the phone number, I infer that Sketch moved the station a couple of blocks, and renamed it. Shouldn’t be a problem, except the pin is still in the wrong location. I looked up the name of the station that Sketch typed in and he has the landmark in the right place but the correct address is 2701 Tulane Ave, which is on the corner of the 100 block of N Broad. I corrected the phone number, but the only way to make the full transformation of this station is to get the pin into the correct location and get the correct address to show, which I entered into the address field in WME.
If someone near there looks at the gas list, they’ll see the correct station name, but the 3rd party pricing will most likely be wrong (not that it’s usually correct anyway). If users enter the price it shouldn’t be a problem unless someone tries to navigate there, and then they’ll end up a few blocks away from the correct location.
What remains to be seen is whether the landmark will also cause the pin to move after a client tiles update. The landmark that Sketch placed on the 24th has not yet hit the client map.
Has there been any talks about how to handle closed stations? Wiki for ROTW said to go there and enter N/A for prices. Will this get the station deleted at some point? There are times when a station closes for a period of time to replace tanks, but does reopen. Other times a station will close and sit vacant for years before someone else buys it or tears it down. My assumption is that if there is info from the gas station owner that they will reopen, leave the landmark. If there is no info on what they are doing with the property, delete it and re-add it if anyone eventually does open it.
A little. I think there’s a thread somewhere asking about it. If a station is closed and not to return, I’d say delete it. But, we haven’t received any feedback from Waze directly on this. What I would love would be for use to not have to “worry” about this link to the external system, and for changes we make to the GS landmarks and new stations to actually be updatable. Right now, we’re still stuck in a goofy limboland.
https://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=129&t=48126&p=431749&hilit=gas+stations#p431749
This one, ROTW had a way to handle, just no solution for NA.
From what I’ve read about your “merge” process, I’m not sure that my solution won’t work for you. If I’ve understood correctly (happens occasionally 
), your gas stations are now in your landmark layer, like ours. I suspect that the link to the external supplier is only pushing the prices into the “now landmarked” stations.
It’s a relatively quick test, anyway. Find a gas station that appears on your client as routable for a gas stop or valid to enter prices (if you’re close enough). Note the details down and then change the landmark type to “other”. If it works like it does here, that station should become invalid for routing as a gas stop & reporting prices more-or-less immediately.
You could even try creating a gas station in your own back yard where it’s close enough to test prices (what will you charge yourself?). I suspect you might have to wait for a client update before it first appears - but after that, you should be able to turn it “on” and “off” straight away - at least if it is working like INTL.
I didn’t try switching the type, but I’ve deleted a couple of non-existent gas stations and they immediately disappear from the client’s gas station listing.
Sorry for being late to the discussion. One question: when the gas station landmarks are expanded beyond the ~15m x 20m size initially created via the import, they go from being invisible in the client to visible. IMO this adds clutter to the map for no apparent gain. The gas price search can find and lead users to the stations no matter how large the landmark is, so why make them bigger?
It can provide clarity to users who wish to report station prices when the name of the station isn’t readily apparent from their vantage point. Also, the landmark suppresses map errors and traffic reporting (right?).
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Nope
This was my opinion mentioned in passing regarding the initial brand discussion. Is there any further guidance on this subject? Should I be adding gas stations to the map that are not open to the general public?
General public, as in stations that the municipalities use? Or the ones that are for fleet usage? I have seen stations like that around here, I don’t add them, they aren’t of benefit to the price search or map IMO.
Or are you talking like club stations like Sam’s and Costco, member only stations? Just curious what you meant as far as those two types of definitions from general public. I add those stations, as I am a member and if I am home or abroad, I’d like to be able to search for them, and I can see where someone might say those aren’t open to general public. Just wondered what you meant, thanks.
I think so. I’m sure there’s a significant set of Waze users who are members at Sams or Costco. They should be able to use the price search just like anybody. Maybe we could name them like “Sam’s Club (Members Only)” so that people who are unfamiliar with these clubs aren’t misled into trying to fill there.
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It seems to me that most people know that Sam’s and Costco are members only stations. The (Members Only) is a good idea for those who don’t know. All we’d have to do is get the brand in the master brands list changed to say that, rather than have to manually rename every station.
That is an even better idea.
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I understand that you want to keep the map from getting cluttered, and we’ve trimmed the permissible landmark types down to prevent that from happening. But gas stations were one of the landmarks we wanted on the map. They’re actually a good landmark and point of reference when driving. I don’t see any reason to eliminate them.
I have the entire New Orleans Metro Area pretty much completely landmarked based on a few adjustments I made to AndyPoms landmark list, and there’s no clutter.
The only thing I’d really like to see if for the gas stations to show up in a different color than the rest of the landmarks, rather than that pale blue, so that they’ll stand out from the rest (and of course I’d like to see the Parking Lot roads thinned down (as promised by the developers) as they are a major contributor to clutter.)