Waze use case - the good, bad and ugly

Map Editors Community General Topics
1

While using waze for a few days via the android client I have noticed my usage patterns and figured I would post as to why that is so. There are far to few users in my area to pay to much attention to reports or even chit chat and most data such as police and traffic are hours old if available at all. That leaves the game mechanics along with mapping and navigation functionality as potential reasons to use waze.

In reality the game mechanics are the driving force for using or contributing any data to waze. The client itself while functional lacks the polished user interface, performance and integration of Google Maps. Serious mapping errors in places render navigation somewhat useless and I find myself having to spend far to much time trying to record new roads than paying attention to the road. Turning the update request layer on in cartouche is almost humorous for my area. However one of the largest problems I face even when not actively using the client is the raw location calculations of the client. When I am driving off road or even in parking lots waze continually places my location on the nearest road, often resulting in traffic notifications and false traffic reports if I do not happen to get to the notifications fast enough. Not only is this a distraction hazard the client has shown me driving on roads hundreds of feet away or in the wrong direction due to its own inability to calculate that people drive elsewhere than public roads 100% of the time. Something as simple as taking an off ramp or even making a turn can result in wildly inaccurate locations.

While I understand that things such as map errors can be corrected by users, I cant help but think I am providing an immense amount of data to waze for almost no gain other than a game. The concept is great however execution is lacking. I decided to try waze after hearing the CEO in a tech podcast and while comparing waze with Google maps and talking about how the crowd sourced aspect added value over the Google offering. That simply is not the case, If I need reliable navigation or simple accurate location information I cannot rely on Waze.

Does anyone else have these same issues and is waze addressing any of these actively?

2

Sadly I also live in a Waze deficient area… and unfortunately no one at "corporate seems to G.A.S. about those of us not in HEAVILY URBAN areas… so I spend free time editing the map as best i can with what little tools they give us but if I really need navigation, I still use Google MOST of the time while keeping Waze running in the background… to get points… What kills me is that they have foursquare integration but they can’t seem to get any support for anything else…

3

There is no problem in our area, where the map is almost complete (we have a basemap and large portions of the map are filled with all data). When the map is complete, most of the described problems disappear. If Waze doesn’t know it is a parking lot you are driving on (simply because it is missing in the map), Waze WILL place you on the nearest road indeed. A lot of problems might also just appear because of your inaccurate GPS receiver, and does not necessarily have to do anything with Waze.

4

That is the thing about Waze if you live in a low user area. Unfortunately there is not much you can do until more users show up, but you can help by promoting Waze on chats/blogs/forums and fixing roads before other users get there.

The thing is that Waze is not purely a navigation app and it seems a lot of people treat it like it is, comparing it to Google or Tom Tom etc. Waze is a social app first but with user controlled navigation (maps) added. So it’s a community thing and you have to work together to fix the mistakes, not count on Waze to do it. They give you the tools.

When I started, I was the only person in my area. Literally. I definitely used other nav apps for “real” navigation to unknown places, but would use Waze for my commutes and routes I already knew. The game mechanics helped with staying with it. Reading the forum helped also. I was able to fix my routes and get comfortable editing. Then once I became an AM I fixed my whole town, I guess for me as I was the only person around. Before I knew it more and more people started showing up and although not as dense as other places, there is definitely a growth in usage, in reports, in fixes to make. It’s becoming a real community.

If you like it, you have to stick with it and it will start filling in and getting more interesting.

The gains for me in fixing the maps and using Waze is: 1) I love editing the maps. pure and simple. For me that is reward enough. Watching the changes go though, figuring out tricky interchanges, seeing how traffic flows and how cities are designed street-wise…I guess I’m a map geek; 2) I get better, more updated navigation which I have control over - if something is wrong I fix it, not file a report that who know when it will be looked at and/or fixed; 3) Making a different in my community in some way; 4) The contests are interesting and different, I don’t win them often but I like to play.

my 2 cents…

5

It’s very hard work to correct map from other user

6

Also a new user of Waze on Android for a week now, I thought I’d share my considerations here too…

I love the concept of Waze, of having a free navigation system that works in my area in the first place, but also of the community improving the map and routing. So I started using it enthusiastically, navigating around and improving the map wherever I could. The game aspect is not really something I’d look for or expect to use, although I must admit I felt some excitement when I picked up points :slight_smile:

The map in my area is not great, and in some nearby areas I travel in even virtually non-existent, but that’s not a complaint in itself. The beauty of the community is that it will add roads as waze gains in popularity, and I’d be more than willing to play a substantial part in that myself. What ís a problem however, is that searches for an address from my contact list are never resolved, so that I have to look up where I want to go on the map and then navigate there. That is annoying, since I depend on navigation the most when I have no idea where my destination is in the first place. I found out that letting google maps locate the address for me (which always works), then switching to street view, then choosing “go to map”, I could choose Waze as the app I wanted to use to go there, thus bypassing the need for letting Waze resolve the address. Not a great solution, but I guess I could live with it.

My biggest concern, however, is the openness of the community. Changes I made to the map that have to be confirmed by area managers have been waiting for that for over a week now. I understand that they are volunteers just like the rest of us and may be on holiday or too busy otherwise, but it did take away my initial enthusiasm to start thinking about what I was doing and for whom.

Bottom line is that I would be improving the map for Waze only, in the hope that Waze will be the best navigation option for me now and in the future. I’d much prefer to contribute to the Open Street Map, which is both superior and open. Waze does however not make use of OSM exactly because it would have to share map improvements (not including traffic information, routes and driving speeds). Given its closed nature, Waze would be an alternative only if the map quality at least comes close to that of OSM, with the added value of better routing from the gathered traffic information, routes and speeds. I have nothing against Waze earning money from my travel data, but to have me put an active effort in contributing to a map that is inferior exactly because Waze has no interest in contributing itself is a bit much to ask. It would really have to come with some extraordinary benefit such as offline navigation for that to become an option.

So, I’ve found my alternative, free, OSM based (plus contributing) and working directly from my contact list addresses. I think Waze would be a real winner if it could combine those features with the added benefits of gathering user data, which I think would be valueable enough in itself to build a business upon.

7

The search function does need improvement, but addresses are just like the streets themselves. If Waze has no information from its sources about the address scheme on roads, it cannot find the address. Waze has the ability for end-users to add addresses both in the Client and in the map editor.

I found out that letting google maps locate the address for me (which always works), then switching to street view, then choosing “go to map”, I could choose Waze as the app I wanted to use to go there, thus bypassing the need for letting Waze resolve the address. Not a great solution, but I guess I could live with it.

That is not very true. The only changes non-area managers have to put into a Pending queue is road deletions. If you have driven in an area, you have nearly full edit rights except for deletions. If you want all edit rights, just apply to be an Area Manager. It’s fairly open, typically takes only 24hrs and they rarely reject someone.

If it is taking a long time, consider the possibilities that 1) there may not be an Area Manager where you deleted a road, 2) any AM for that area may have stopped using Waze, or 3) the AM may have A LOT of pending work. (I have over 1000 updates requests from users sent in from the handheld client while they were driving and some of those are going to be pretty old by the time I get to them.)

I do hope you will considering staying on and trying out Waze a bit longer. Enthusiastic folks like you are the type of people we need to stick around to continue to improve Waze. It only gets better if we stick together.

8

I can find the address in Waze, it just won’t recognize the format from my contact list. So another option would be to memorize the address, and search for it in Waze. Another solution I could live with, certainly when temporary.

Yes, the changes I meant are indeed road deletions. As I read in the guidelines that the unnecessary splitting of a road into two separate one-directional lanes is undesirable, so I decided to rid my neighborhood of one such case. But without the deletion of the now obsolete lane, it is a mess. I respect the workload and voluntary nature of the position of AM, so that is certainly not a reason to give up on Waze. It just led me to think about the nature of the community.

I’ll certainly keep Waze around, check out the map and watch for any moves toward a more open approach.

Ultimately I think that a large part of the community-minded enthusiasts like myself will resent the closed nature of map to which they contribute. In terms of “it only gets better if we stick together”, Waze is doing quite the opposite by creating its own closed community. Rather than helping along only the Waze community/business model, especially the enthusiasts Waze needs may in the end opt for helping the community as a whole via OSM. I really think that an application like Waze would be absolutely perfect for just that, and I hope it will be so one day. I love the concept and think there’s plenty of money to be made from the information derived from routes of driving data from the Waze users. Implementing and sharing with OSM would mean such a qualitative improvement for both sides I think Waze would be able to get far more users generating data, increasing its business potential.

Or maybe I just align my predictions with my love for the open source community :wink:

9

You can move the road segment, which you marked for deletion (edit Road geometry) to another location away from actual road, so it wont mix up with your actual road geometry.
If AM does exists for your area, he can delete it at his convenience, or you can apply for AM in your area.
But I would suggest to get to know cartouche (The Map Editor) first then apply for AM…
Happy Wazing :smiley:

10

Thanks for that, I’ve done what I could to at least clean up the mess I made. I tried that a while ago, but the problem is that I am not able to move the road as it is connected to junctions along the way that I am not allowed to remove. I tried making all roads connected to those junctions identical by name and other properties, but am still not allowed to remove them. Unless you know of a way to solve this, for the moment I’ll just make sure navigation is not affected and wait for the AM (who does exist, by the way).

11

Click on the road segment, then hold the <Ctrl> key down while you click on the junction so they are both highlighted and the Edit Panel will give you the option to ‘disconnect road from node’. Do this to both ends of the road segment you want to remove so you can then edit the geometry and move it out of the way.

12

Thanks, I so should have figured that out myself :oops:

Just a note to any fellow newbies that happen to read this: don’t move your to-be-deleted roads to the middle of some nearby forest with the intention of removing names, reducing lengths etc there. Unless you’ve been in that forest, you will no longer be able to do anything with them. cough

13

That happens to us non-newbies too sometimes! :lol:

14

We need a global Segment Forest Graveyard where one lucky AM gets to bury them all…