Indeed, separate issues, but related.
While the pruning thing seems like a bug, it could in fact be a larger form of the preferring that occurs in shorter trips, and that 'preferring' gets so strong and so oversimplified on long trips that it turns into 'pruning.'
You yourself gave an example that I forget the details of, but in New Orleans, you were like 'this route was never considered until I turned such and such a road into a major highway.' It was a short distance trip. The fact that it was 'never considered' suggests 'pruning' to me.
I really do think it's 'pruning' non-major highway options even on short trips, too, is my point. The ONLY time it even uses non-major highway options is IF there is traffic on the major highways to avoid. Otherwise it doesn't just 'prefer' them, it sticks to them like glue and 'prunes' other options out of the picture, even options that would possibly be faster. And especially in areas with lots of major highways (thanks to sketch's standard which has them scattered all over the place, sometimes every 200 feet), the more impossible it becomes to get suggested a route that doesn't focus on them like moths to a flame.
This is just a suspicion, I can't prove it (except for 'detour avoidance' which is actually designed to ignore the faster route if it qualifies as a 'detour').
But I keep going back to how sketch said "I never had that route suggested until I made it a major highway." When I hear that, I don't hear "let's have more major highways so there's more routes" (which may in fact be true and is certainly sketch's approach to the problem), what I hear is "the only routes it ever gives are major highways." Which makes me wish they could be used more scarcely (for 'other freeway/expressway' and not for primary arterials). Which they could, if not for the long-distance bug that seems to require them. This is why I link the 'pruning' and 'preferring' as basically two sides of the same issue.
You keep saying my experience must be different. So let's focus on my experience, then. I use Waze on the route to work every morning, and on the way home every evening. (And everywhere else I go, but that's the most common, repeated trip.) This is the livemap link from home to work:
https://www.waze.com/livemap?zoom=16&la ... =-82.40321
The only two routes I ever get are taking North Church all the way to (near) University Ridge and come in from the east side, or taking N Church to Academy and then getting off Academy at Camperdown and coming in from the west side.
That's it. That's the only routes I ever get offered. Either going or coming. Ever. Once, one time only, I was offered the Interstate instead, then to N Church.
Now, granted, I haven't experimented all that much about going off 'the beaten path' and trying to find shortcuts. After all, that's what I supposedly have Waze for, to tell me about them so I don't have to find them myself, if/when they are faster. But generally speaking, especially going in to work, N Church street tends to have a good amount of traffic, especially between E Park and E McGee. But the only way it ever routes me around that traffic....is to take a different major highway. =/ Not once has it ever offered me any other solution to avoid that N Church St traffic; it's always to take Academy instead. Never anything else. Ever. Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever.
Granted I've only been working there since the week before Christmas, but in all that time, taking this commute 10 times a week, you'd think I might have gotten more than just those 3 variations of the trip (one of which was only once). =/ Not to mention that accident that occurred on Wade Hampton one time and added 20 minutes to the commute home because Waze didn't realize that my doing 2MPH average might mean I should get routed around the traffic jam. =/ (I wound up getting UR's from someone who had obviously gotten routed around the traffic jam after it had already cleared up and they were wondering why Waze was telling them to get off Wade Hampton. -eyeroll-)
I would challenge anyone to find a time of day where this commute does not stick like glue to either N Church (a major highway) or Academy (a major highway.) =/ Because I've yet to find one, regardless of what traffic's like. Essentially traffic has to come to next to a standstill in order for the penalty to be severe enough for it to start looking at the minors/primaries in the area. And since that doesn't happen without an accident or something like it, it pretty much always follows the "better to use these roads than the backroads" philosophy, pretty much permanently.
So that's my experience. The only main reason I can think of why my experience is so much different is because there isn't a strong amount of Wazers in this area. Which makes me wonder why a standard that doesn't fit for areas of low usage would be a good standard to apply nation-wide. =/
While the pruning thing seems like a bug, it could in fact be a larger form of the preferring that occurs in shorter trips, and that 'preferring' gets so strong and so oversimplified on long trips that it turns into 'pruning.'
You yourself gave an example that I forget the details of, but in New Orleans, you were like 'this route was never considered until I turned such and such a road into a major highway.' It was a short distance trip. The fact that it was 'never considered' suggests 'pruning' to me.
I really do think it's 'pruning' non-major highway options even on short trips, too, is my point. The ONLY time it even uses non-major highway options is IF there is traffic on the major highways to avoid. Otherwise it doesn't just 'prefer' them, it sticks to them like glue and 'prunes' other options out of the picture, even options that would possibly be faster. And especially in areas with lots of major highways (thanks to sketch's standard which has them scattered all over the place, sometimes every 200 feet), the more impossible it becomes to get suggested a route that doesn't focus on them like moths to a flame.
This is just a suspicion, I can't prove it (except for 'detour avoidance' which is actually designed to ignore the faster route if it qualifies as a 'detour').
But I keep going back to how sketch said "I never had that route suggested until I made it a major highway." When I hear that, I don't hear "let's have more major highways so there's more routes" (which may in fact be true and is certainly sketch's approach to the problem), what I hear is "the only routes it ever gives are major highways." Which makes me wish they could be used more scarcely (for 'other freeway/expressway' and not for primary arterials). Which they could, if not for the long-distance bug that seems to require them. This is why I link the 'pruning' and 'preferring' as basically two sides of the same issue.
You keep saying my experience must be different. So let's focus on my experience, then. I use Waze on the route to work every morning, and on the way home every evening. (And everywhere else I go, but that's the most common, repeated trip.) This is the livemap link from home to work:
https://www.waze.com/livemap?zoom=16&la ... =-82.40321
The only two routes I ever get are taking North Church all the way to (near) University Ridge and come in from the east side, or taking N Church to Academy and then getting off Academy at Camperdown and coming in from the west side.
That's it. That's the only routes I ever get offered. Either going or coming. Ever. Once, one time only, I was offered the Interstate instead, then to N Church.
Now, granted, I haven't experimented all that much about going off 'the beaten path' and trying to find shortcuts. After all, that's what I supposedly have Waze for, to tell me about them so I don't have to find them myself, if/when they are faster. But generally speaking, especially going in to work, N Church street tends to have a good amount of traffic, especially between E Park and E McGee. But the only way it ever routes me around that traffic....is to take a different major highway. =/ Not once has it ever offered me any other solution to avoid that N Church St traffic; it's always to take Academy instead. Never anything else. Ever. Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever.
Granted I've only been working there since the week before Christmas, but in all that time, taking this commute 10 times a week, you'd think I might have gotten more than just those 3 variations of the trip (one of which was only once). =/ Not to mention that accident that occurred on Wade Hampton one time and added 20 minutes to the commute home because Waze didn't realize that my doing 2MPH average might mean I should get routed around the traffic jam. =/ (I wound up getting UR's from someone who had obviously gotten routed around the traffic jam after it had already cleared up and they were wondering why Waze was telling them to get off Wade Hampton. -eyeroll-)
I would challenge anyone to find a time of day where this commute does not stick like glue to either N Church (a major highway) or Academy (a major highway.) =/ Because I've yet to find one, regardless of what traffic's like. Essentially traffic has to come to next to a standstill in order for the penalty to be severe enough for it to start looking at the minors/primaries in the area. And since that doesn't happen without an accident or something like it, it pretty much always follows the "better to use these roads than the backroads" philosophy, pretty much permanently.
So that's my experience. The only main reason I can think of why my experience is so much different is because there isn't a strong amount of Wazers in this area. Which makes me wonder why a standard that doesn't fit for areas of low usage would be a good standard to apply nation-wide. =/
Re: Road Types (USA) – comprehensive overhaul of drivable ro