Being an Uber and Lyft driver in the middle of a large city has impressed upon me more than ever the need for viable alternatives for when streets close for construction, police activities, events, etc. Oftentimes the main thoroughfares and even secondary ones may run in the same direction for several blocks, and when one adds the congestion often encountered in these areas, missing one turn and thus needing to use the next available street to make a run-around can sometimes take 5-10 minutes or more. In addition, hailing riders can track their rideshare drivers on a map that often shows the excluded streets, which may prompt the question of why the driver is skipping streets and thus calling their navigational skills and timeliness into question. This can contribute to being rated lower by the user, which can endanger a driver's status with Uber/Lyft. Granted, this isn't necessarily a Waze problem, but any help in using the app that Uber and Lyt drivers have been invited by Waze to use would be appreciated.

In addition, PR segments do not consistently render in the app, especially when navigating via passive means, i.e. using the map rather than actively navigating to a specific address. Drivers using Waze to make deliveries or making multiple stops in an particular area who know the streets are close together may prefer to use passive navigation in such circumstances rather than having to enter each address, which takes time and 'time is money' as they say!

On the other hand, from what I can gather the whole purpose of restricting the routing to these streets is because often the conditions or dimensions of the street are such that many Wazers may not like to be routed down them, choosing instead to stick to more standard size and easily navigable streets. Perfectly reasonable for Waze to give such users a way to opt out of using these streets, just as they can avoid using toll roads and now even "difficult turns". However, whereas with these options those who may be comfortable and even inclined to use them due to the time savings involved can still choose to, no such choice is available for those who have no problem using the "back streets" and perfectly navigable "alleys" that enable efficient movement in a city. Ironically, this kind of goes against the core mission of Waze, which was always to "beat traffic", and yet perfectly viable routes are being excluded to cater to those less comfortable in their driving prowess behind the wheel, or the less adventurous. Discovering such routes was one of the big draws to Waze for me.

Another concern some may have is with "map clutter". However, having had to use the app a whole lot in the inner city where streets are close to gather as are AP, I find that when using active navigation the names of streets and places not on the immediate path are suppressed anyway, so "confusing" app users wouldn't be a problem anyway, for those using active navigation. This is something I've noticed consistently in the app, and I've used it extensively in my ridesharing activities. For those using passive navigation "simplicity" involves more landmarks and signs to remove the guesswork of where one may be, not less.

I think a ready solution for a compromise between those who need the additional routing choices is to mark such streets where conditions and dimensions could be uncomfortable for some as "dirt roads". Such roads don't have the same suppression of their names as PR do, and can be enabled "by default" for routing choices for those who generally wouldn't be uncomfortable using such roads, which generally will be saavy drivers looking to Waze to supplement their skills in avoiding traffic and who already may be inclined to skip down alleys they know exist, as well as couriers and other pro drivers who also may regularly use such roads and thus aren't uncomfortable traversing them if being directed to when trying to save time. For those drivers who may have such a problem, they can always ignore the app's suggestion, which is what they would do even if the address they are navigating to is on the block, instead wheeling their cargo to the location from wherever they parked on the street they used to get there.

Navigation in a big city with a lot of traffic can be tough and frustrating. I hope something can be done to alleviate some of the pain for regular Wazers!