Massachusetts State Route Naming Convention

[aplycon]

Not to mention the state wiki says to call MA state routes MA-xxx which isn't the way this says badges will be recognized from:

The wiki implies that state shields are working:
The Live Map will parse "State Rte xx" and "State Hwy yyy" and show a sign badge.

[aplycon]

Drove five Massachusetts numbered routes and passed another today and none of them have shields in the Waze app.
(1A, 27, 109, 115, 126, 140)

Just curious, do you know if those routes were marked using SR-xxx or MA-xxx


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[aplycon]

So does Mass now have to resign the previous MA-xx convention and switch everything back to State Hwy xx to get badges to appear?

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[dmcrandall]

The "Shield question" is still very much unanswered. It appears to be a way down the list of things Waze is working on.

According to the TTS experts, "MA" should say Massachusetts in the App. The other common naming practice in most states is to go with "SR-##," for state routes.

US Highways should always be "US-###."

[dmcrandall]

I talked to GizmoGuy411 last night. "MA" is not recognized in TTS as a road name, and it says "ma," as in mother.

The national standard seems to be leaning toward "SR-###" and I think that's what we should be using here as well.

Thoughts, questions, concerns?

[dmcrandall]

I'm pretty sure that MA-xxx is pronounced just fine when used on a ramp. For example, this:

https://www.waze.com/editor/?env=usa&lo ... s=71334796

is pronounced "to EYE-95 north, Massachusetts 128 north, Massachusetts 30, New Hampshire, Maine". Is the pronunciation different when used on another kind of road segment?

Interesting. I'll let him know.

Anyway, I like the MA-xxx convention but if Waze isn't going to play ball and make this pronounced according to local customs, then I guess SR-xxx is as good as anything else. The usage of the term "Route" when referring to a state highway is so pervasive and consistent around here that anything else will be unintelligible to most drivers. At least "state route" has the word "route" in it so some people may understand. However, I think many people don't even realize that what they call a "route" is actually a state road, so the leading "state" is still likely to confuse them.

Hopefully not. Keep an eye out for complaints, though.

[dmcrandall]

Awesome. I just wish it said "Massachusetts Route"

We can always request it.

Spelling errors are courtesy of large thumbs and a small smartphome keyboard.

[harling]

We are (still) holding out for the state-specific highway designation "MA-##" to be implemented. This effort was put on hold a while back (several months ago), when road-shield management was said to be forthcoming.

Until this is settled and actually implemented, it makes no sense to undertake any manual mass-renaming effort. It is important for routing that any one road be named consistently, but please refrain from changing whatever standard is already in use on any given highway. (If a highway is already inconsistently labeled, and will represent a sizable effort to restore consistency in any case, I suggest using the MA-## designation.)

P.S. For whatever reason, "State Hwy" is what was used throughout the basemap.

P.P.S. Thank you for posting the road naming page. I was unaware that it existed, and have updated it accordingly.

[harling]

... I suggest using the MA-## designation.

I think that TTS pronounces that as "mah".

It spells it out: "MA-128 N" becomes "emm ay one twenty-eight north". My hope is that Waze will add a TTS pattern that transforms that into simply "roooot one twenty-eight north".

What if we made the standard "Route XX"? That is the way people refer to state routes in Mass, correct?

Also how people here refer to US highways. (Seriously, I didn't even know why the shields for Route 1 and Route 2 were different, until I started editing for Waze and saw that it was "US Hwy 1" but "State Hwy 2". And this is coming from a lifetime member of the National Motorists Association who has been driving here for *mumble* years.)

"Rte" is an option that I considered early on, and decided against because I think it goes too far in the "every state for itself" direction. A certain amount of uniformity is a Good Thing™, and I think an "AA-##" nomenclature that distinguishes between state and US highways throughout the nation, while allowing the "AA" part and its TTS rendering to be localized from state to state, strikes a fair (and versatile) compromise.

[i074111104110]

I am not clear about the status of state road shields.

The wiki implies that state shields are working:

The Live Map will parse "State Rte xx" and "State Hwy yyy" and show a sign badge.

Link here: https://www.waze.com/wiki/Road_Naming_(USA)#State_Highways


The wiki also states:

Refer to the road naming by state table for specific formatting of each state.

Link here: https://www.waze.com/wiki/Road_naming_by_state


Drove five Massachusetts numbered routes and passed another today and none of them have shields in the Waze app.
(1A, 27, 109, 115, 126, 140)

So my questions are:

Are road shields a future someday feature like Waze using it's internal house numbering database in directions?

Is there anything that can be done to make these roads display shields in the app today?

Is the state road shield not displaying unique to Massachusetts or is it an issue for all states?