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Wiki page suggestion: Landmarks

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I would love to see a standard way of of mapping landmarks developed via the wiki. I have searched through the forum and I have found a few mentions of them (parking lot traffic jam suppression, gas stations, etc.). However, what is the BEST way to map them?

If there's a strip mall with several shops along a highway, what should be mapped? Only the parking lot to suppress a jam? The shopping center in general, also? Individual shops? I've seen it done a number of ways, but which is the best?

I'm not much of a wiki page developer, and would leave it to someone who has that talent. I would like to open up a discussion about this. What do you think of this idea?

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Post by AlanOfTheBerg
Most landmarks do not reliably show their name so adding them just in case someone might see a hotel/motel while panning and scanning seems to not be the best use of resources.

Waze has a new feature under development for adding real POIs.
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Post by AlanOfTheBerg
I would elect to not map them at this time and wait for the Waze native POI feature to become available. Next year.
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Post by AndyPoms
I Created a wiki page with the list of Landmark Types (US) & point users to this discussion so people can weigh-in on which ones they think should be included... In the code tag below is the list of types so you can copy & paste it so you don't have to retype it... I will post my comments in a separate post below...

Code: Select all

[list][u][b]1 Transportation[/b][/u]
[list][b]1.1 Gas Station[/b]
[b]1.2 Toll booth[/b]
[b]1.3 Terminal[/b]
[b]1.4 Airport[/b]
[b]1.5 Train station[/b]
[b]1.6 Bus Station / Bus Terminal[/b]
[b]1.7 Sea Port[/b]
[b]1.8 Parking Lot[/b]
[b]1.9 Junction/Interchange[/b]
[b]1.10 Bridge[/b]
[b]1.11 Tunnel[/b]
[b]1.12 Subway station[/b]
[b]1.13 Ferry lane[/b]
[b]1.14 Car Rental[/b]
[b]1.15 Garage[/b][/list]
[u][b]2 Leisure[/b][/u]
[list][b]2.1 Park[/b]
[b]2.2 Museum / Visitor Center / Monument[/b]
[b]2.3 Mall/Shopping Center[/b]
[b]2.4 Convenience Store / Kiosk[/b]
[b]2.5 Restaurant / Bar / Coffee Shop[/b]
[b]2.6 Stadium / Sports Facility[/b]
[b]2.7 Hotel / Motel / Guest Room[/b]
[b]2.8 Club/Concert Hall[/b]
[b]2.9 Beach[/b]
[b]2.10 Camp site / RV Park[/b]
[b]2.11 Casino[/b]
[b]2.12 Marina[/b]
[b]2.13 Promenade / Boardwalk[/b]
[b]2.14 Store/stall[/b][/list]
[u][b]3 Nature[/b][/u]
[list][b]3.1 Island[/b]
[b]3.2 Sea/Lake/Levee[/b]
[b]3.3 River/Stream[/b]
[b]3.4 Forest/Grove[/b]
[b]3.5 Farmland[/b]
[b]3.6 Gravel[/b]
[b]3.7 Danger Zone[/b][/list]
[u][b]4 Public[/b][/u]
[list][b]4.1 Religious Site[/b]
[b]4.2 Bank[/b]
[b]4.3 Office Building[/b]
[b]4.4 Industry[/b]
[b]4.5 Public Building[/b]
[b]4.6 Tourist Site / Attraction[/b]
[b]4.7 ATM[/b]
[b]4.8 Pharmacy[/b]
[b]4.9 Supermarket/Market[/b][/list]
[u][b]5 Public Service[/b][/u]
[list][b]5.1 Hospital/Clinic[/b]
[b]5.2 Correction Facility / Prison[/b]
[b]5.3 Military Site[/b]
[b]5.4 Government / Municipal Building[/b]
[b]5.5 Police Station[/b]
[b]5.6 University / College / Academy[/b]
[b]5.7 School / Kindergarten / Junior High / High School[/b]
[b]5.8 Cemetery[/b]
[b]5.9 Fire Department/Emergency Service[/b]
[b]5.10 Post Office[/b][/list]
[u][b]6 Other[/b][/u]
[list][b]6.1 Other[/b][/list][/list]
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Post by AndyPoms
My thoughts on which Landmark Types to map & which ones not to map... Those left blank, I don't have an opinion on - it could go either way...
  • 1 Transportation
    • 1.1 Gas Station - To be addressed separately due to the Gas Price function
      1.2 Toll booth - Not Mapped
      1.3 Terminal
      1.4 Airport - Mapped
      1.5 Train station
      1.6 Bus Station / Bus Terminal
      1.7 Sea Port
      1.8 Parking Lot - Commuter Lots & Park and Ride Lots should be marked (and labeled as "Commuter Lot" or "Park & Ride" only - no specific names as it would get too long), those at businesses - not mapped
      1.9 Junction/Interchange - I don't think it will show properly at highway speeds..
      1.10 Bridge - Bridges can have names other than the name of the road, so maybe, leaning towards yes for major ones - certainly not every bridge. (i.e. George Washington Bridge in NYC - yes, Golden Gate Bridge in CA - yes, the bridge that takes Main St over the Railroad Tracks - no)
      1.11 Tunnel - Tunnels can have names other than the name of the road, so maybe, leaning towards yes for major ones - certainly not every tunnel.
      1.12 Subway station
      1.13 Ferry lane - We really need a Ferry Road Type to do this properly, but this can work for now
      1.14 Car Rental - Not Mapped
      1.15 Garage - What kind of Garage? Parking Garage? If so, then Parking Lot would cover it. Repair Garage? Then it's a business, so no...
    2 Leisure
    • 2.1 Park - Yes, as long as it's not too big where it interferes with other landmarks/roads. I think State/National Parks should be included as well with the same size rules.
      2.2 Museum / Visitor Center / Monument - Yes, as long as it's not too big where it interferes with other landmarks/roads
      2.3 Mall/Shopping Center
      2.4 Convenience Store / Kiosk - Not Mapped
      2.5 Restaurant / Bar / Coffee Shop - Not Mapped
      2.6 Stadium / Sports Facility - Yes, as long as it's not too big where it interferes with other landmarks/roads
      2.7 Hotel / Motel / Guest Room - Not Mapped
      2.8 Club/Concert Hall
      2.9 Beach
      2.10 Camp site / RV Park
      2.11 Casino
      2.12 Marina
      2.13 Promenade / Boardwalk
      2.14 Store/stall - Not Mapped
    3 Nature
    • 3.1 Island
      3.2 Sea/Lake/Levee - We already have an inaccessible water layer in WME, so I see this option as redundant...
      3.3 River/Stream - We already have an inaccessible water layer in WME, so I see this option as redundant...
      3.4 Forest/Grove - Not Mapped (see Park for exceptions)
      3.5 Farmland - Not Mapped
      3.6 Gravel - Not Mapped
      3.7 Danger Zone
    4 Public
    • 4.1 Religious Site - Houses of Worship, not mapped, Larger Religious Sites where people make specific trips to go to (i.e. Vatican, Kaaba, Western Wall, etc) should be mapped
      4.2 Bank - Not Mapped
      4.3 Office Building - Not Mapped
      4.4 Industry - Not Mapped
      4.5 Public Building - I would use this for Court Houses as that is not an option below under "Public Service" (but they should have it's own sub-category there)
      4.6 Tourist Site / Attraction
      4.7 ATM - Not Mapped
      4.8 Pharmacy - Not Mapped
      4.9 Supermarket/Market - Not Mapped
    5 Public Service
    • 5.1 Hospital/Clinic - Mapped
      5.2 Correction Facility / Prison - Mapped so people know not to stop in the area or pick up hitchhikers (escapees)...
      5.3 Military Site - The large ones seem to be mapped with their own City, so this could be redundant, or could be used for smaller installations...
      5.4 Government / Municipal Building - Map the ones that are open to the public (i.e. City Hall, City Offices, etc) Don't map storage/work yards (i.e. DPW)
      5.5 Police Station - Mapped
      5.6 University / College / Academy
      5.7 School / Kindergarten / Junior High / High School
      5.8 Cemetery - A lot of these seemed to have come from the Basemap.
      5.9 Fire Department/Emergency Service - Mapped
      5.10 Post Office
    6 Other
    • 6.1 Other
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Post by AndyPoms
CBenson wrote:My opinion is the landmarks list is slightly modified list of the TIGER objects that were available during the basemap import. I don't think there has been much significant thought about how appropriate this list is for the purposes of waze.
This would be the place to express your thoughts on which ones are appropriate for Waze... Which ones we can ask Waze to remove/add to the list? How do we map them (see quote below)?
CrackedLCD wrote:I'm not so concerned with the list of landmarks as they currently exist as I am simple things like, do parking lots only include parking lots, or the entire shopping centre? It's a mix of both right now in my area. And do shopping center/mall landmarks only trace the buildings, or the entire property? That's a mix of both here, too. And if someone draws a parking lot landmark, is it now pointless to create parking lot-designated streets under it, and vice-versa?
What are your thoughts on which parking lots to map & how to map them? We need to have a discussion to figure this stuff out...

I'm just trying to spur the conversation towards something productive... Eventually we can take that Wiki Page and put the recommendations into it with detailed descriptions on how to map specific landmarks, it's just a jumping off point...
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Post by AndyPoms
mapcat wrote:I agree with most of what you've included. AFAIK the inaccessible water layer exists only in the USA, so anywhere else (including Canada) water features do need to be mapped. Some features are missing in the USA also, so there's nothing wrong with adding some more where useful.
That's why I labeled it "USA" and not "NA"... There will always be exceptions to the rules, and this would be a great place to put - "before you map it, make sure it isn't already in the app as many waterways already are"
mapcat wrote:Regarding parks, what do you mean by "as long as it's not too big where it interferes with other landmarks/roads"? Every park will have some roads in it. National Parks absolutely should be mapped, regardless of size. They're destinations.
I was refering to this series of posts (starting at the bottom of page 1 in this topic)
shawndoc wrote:I have a question. How should national forest land be covered? Currently, its one GIGANTIC landmark in the client. The problem I'm running into, is there are numerous cities within this gigantic landmark. And its impossible for me to select any existing landmarks, as any time I try to click on one, the National Forest landmark is selected instead. Do we really need landmarks that cover hundreds of square miles of mountain land, including all forest, roads, etc?
daknife wrote:I'd say National Forest should NOT be landmarked, A National Park or Monument yes but not a forest. Besides how are they accounting for private land mixed in with the National Forest? Well based on your complaint about towns inside the "landmark" not at all, but that is an issue. I vote to delete such a landmark.
mapcat wrote:Parking lot landmarks suppress traffic, and possibly gas stations, but I don't think any others do.
Gas Stations do suppress traffic from what I've seen... and both suppress problem reports (but for parking lots, would parking lot roads be a better option...
mapcat wrote:Some of the others you say should be mapped (police station, clinic) may be so small that they will never show up, so it may not matter whether or not they're mapped.
Good idea for the general rules section... Minimum size visible...
mapcat wrote:I don't think bridges (or tunnels) should be mapped as landmarks. Instead, the street name should be switched from the highway number to the name of the bridge.
I really want to see how shields are handled before deciding on this one... I did a few test ones here in CT, and it seems to work - you get one name for the bridge, it's smaller than the road name font (see screenshot below)...

But like my first line says, those were just my opinions/ideas...
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Post by AndyPoms
ncc1701v wrote:
AndyPoms wrote:
  • 1.10 Bridge - Bridges can have names other than the name of the road, so maybe, leaning towards yes for major ones - certainly not every bridge. (i.e. George Washington Bridge in NYC - yes, Golden Gate Bridge in CA - yes, the bridge that takes Main St over the Railroad Tracks - no)
    1.11 Tunnel - Tunnels can have names other than the name of the road, so maybe, leaning towards yes for major ones - certainly not every tunnel.
Would these show up when navigating? I enjoy being a tourist and learning I'm going over the Koscziusko bridge, or the Pulaski bridge, but most of the time wouldn't most navigators just want clear directions to their destination? Do these help with navigation? Would they be seen as clutter?
See Screen Shot Above...
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Post by AndyPoms
Unholy wrote:2. In the NA server, adding a gas station landmark will not add a "pin" to the client's map - Currently the gas stations which appear there originated from a 3rd party data base.
Is there a way to add stations to that 3rd Party Database? I've gotten numerous URs about gas stations not appearing in that list.
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Post by AndyPoms
Unholy wrote:2. In the NA server, adding a gas station landmark will not add a "pin" to the client's map - Currently the gas stations which appear there originated from a 3rd party data base.
3. If you wish to prevent "ghost traffic" jams and prevent Waze from navigating you through gas station road, please set the type of road in these gas stations to "parking lot" roads.
Playing devil's advocate here...

Why not use the Gas Station Landmark instead of parking lot roads for gas stations?
1) Both suppress the "ghost traffic jam".
2) You'll get a nice little highlight around the gas station.
3) A lot of gas stations have odd paths through them (in & out & around the pumps), wouldn't it easier just to drop a blob of a landmark over the whole area?

Does any of this create issues with the 3rd party pins?
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Post by AndyPoms
Den_in_USA wrote:Would it be a problem if I created a parking lot road and called it a dirt road so that it appears different on the map?
Yes it would. Parking Lot Roads have special properties.
1) The suppress automatic traffic jam reports
2) They carry a heavy routing penalty to prevent routing through a parking lot (into or out of is fine)
3) They help suppress automatically generated map problems (missing road)
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