gordonski wrote:"Stick with the surrounding traffic" is a nice advice. Usually 33% drive slower than the limit (e.g. trucks), 33% ignore the limt and the remaining 33% obey to it...

If a speed limit has been set according to accepted traffic engineering principles (at least in the U.S.), 85% of drivers would be driving at that speed of slower, in the absence of enforcement. In practice, this standard is almost never used, with speeds almost universally set lower due to political (or economic) considerations. That said, people have been able to get by for decades without navigation devices to tell them the speed limit. Signs are not posted any less frequently than they used to be. If you don't see the first sign, pick a speed somewhere in the middle of the crowd until you see the next one.

Concerning the "other GPS navsets use speed limits for eta calculation" argument: The ones I know use the lower value of average speeds based on road type (fixed values for each type of road) and speed limit. So when you are able to always drive the maximum allowed speed, you'll arrive sooner than expected. Waze does not need that because it has "live averages". Still, indicatiting speed limits would be a helpful feature for above reasons.

The combination of actual speed limit, and assumed speed based on road type, still has only a tenuous connection to real-world speeds. A nav product that -needs- to know speed limits in order to estimate transit time, has no choice but to gather, input and maintain that data. With actual driving data, Waze has zero need of speed limit data; thus to undertake gathering, incorporating and maintaining that data solely for a "nice to have" feature would be a poor investment of limited resources. Maybe Waze will have speed limits some day--but hopefully not until all the higher-priority issues have been addressed.

realc4ever wrote:All that is desired is an audible warning if we are driving over the posted speed limit. That is all. Other nav apps do this.

As explained elsewhere, other nav apps record speed limits because that is their only source of speed data. Because it gathers real-world speed data, Waze has no need for speed limits; therefore, the task of gathering, storing and maintaining speed limits worldwide for a handful of "nice to have" features will not be a justifiable investment of limited resources until all of the more critical issues have been dealt with.

With waze, whenever a speed limit sign is seen, someone can enter it into map. It's not that hard really. It's not any different than reporting a hazard or map issue.
Waze can assume the speed limit is the same for the entire road, until someone else enters a new speed limit.

As explained here, it is hardly as simple as people seem to think.

mssusa wrote:

xteejx wrote:+1 it needs too much work to implement, and time that could be better spent giving a more useful base service!

OK. Wouldn't it then be better to give this as an explanation instead of "you don't need to know the official speed limit"?

Nobody is saying "you don't need to know the speed limit":

• 1) Waze doesn't need to know the speed limit in order to function; and
  2) Anyone who does want to know the speed limit, can look through the windshield for posted signs

mssusa wrote:Yes. Speed limit data for the driver is not as important for me as perfect traffic detection and I believe waze needs the speed limit to perfect its automated traffic detection.

Actually, Waze only needs to know the road's typical speed during "off-peak" hours--which it does have. The problem is, it doesn't (yet?) use that as the basis for detecting traffic. But I agree that it should.

fvwazing wrote:

invented wrote:

jeff412 wrote:Once all of the routing issues are fixed with Waze, I want Speed Limit data. I will gladly help enter the information.

Good news: the routing issues will never be fixed.

Lol. We stop fixing just before the last one!

I don' t have a problem with adding speed limit data per se. Once we have put to rest all the higher-priority issues like finishing the maps and perfecting the routing algorithm, if we have time on our hands each day after resolving URs and following road construction, why not?

Until then, however, anything that diverts resources (developers & editors) from Waze's core functionality will only serve to delay solving those high-priority issues.

I've read a lot of posts here & I have this to say: most people seem to want speed limit information. I think the argument about whether to have it or why is null & void; it'll eventually be a part of waze.

Aside from the obvious convenience of having something beeping at me if I'm watching the road instead of the speedo and going to fast, personally I'd like to see what the speed limit should be for the following reasons:

1) traffic is travelling at <x>% of the speed limit. e.g. 25 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone is slow; 25 miles an hour in 30 miles an hour is normal
2) major routes - do they scew the data any? If I travel a parking-lot road during peak @ 2am, it's going to be FAST because nobody's on it. In truth I don't know if waze accounts for periods in the day - if it doesn't it should.
3) a "if there were no traffic on the road, this way would be fastest" route could be offered

indulge me & let me go off in to pixie-land for a moment.

If you have a dual or tri-laned highway with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour and the average speed is marked as 15 miles per hour, what is driving on that highway going to be like? Pretty stressful & crappy. On & off the brakes costing fuel, brake pads, frustration etc. It's going to to feel like a traffic jam. You're not going to get to work with a smile on your face.

If waze could somehow tell me - via a colour code or something - what percentage percentage a road was carrying traffic at, then that would be f... awesome (f... stands for fabulous - what did you think I meant??) because it would imply this kind of information. I there were some other factor, like too many traffic lights or stupid traffic light signal changing timing, then that would show as well.

The other thing is that such a colouring would give me a better idea of roads that waze knows traffic conditions for.

This fits in with what's on my wish list - not only "what's the minimum time I can spend on the road?" - but also "what's the most efficient, pleasant and best way to be on the road?" with some kind of trade-off. But I agree, waze needs to sort everything else first - absolutely.

oh - & to me using real-world average speeds in route calculation makes absolute sense - except when waze doesn't have enough data. It has MY data of how I go to work, but ignores that because it overrides me with it's guess - but that's a different thing. I didn't ever suggest ignoring average speed btw.

OldGnome wrote:I think there are many more future features to work on besides displaying the posted speed limit.

I agree. But they don't have to be mutually exclusive.

I do not want waze getting involved with speed limit information nor do I want it referencing said information when making decisions about routing or ETA.

xteejx wrote:Again, that's not what is being said here. ALERTS ONLY!

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Why bother? Read the speed limit signs. It's yet another parameter on every road that one will have to research, input, and maintain.