Sorry for waking up this old thread, but in my opinion the paved/unpaved road should be a checkbox, not a road type. If you look at "official" maps here in Norway there are "primary street"-type of roads that are unpaved.

Ivar

This same discussion came up in the swedish Forum, we have cleared most of the other types of roads but just gravel roads or unpaved ones is missing!

4x4 of service roads did came up as options but neither of them feel right since they clearly isn't the same kind of roads!
4x4 roads is for me the kind with bushes growing in the middle where you need something like a Humvee to drive

I completely agree with needing an unpaved road option. I live in a rural farming community and commute to the metro daily. Only about a quarter of the roads are paved, but all are travelable by any vehicle with two or more wheels, including smart cars.

Ok. I labeled the side roads as streets although that somehow seems wrong. In my neck of the woods, a street is something that is within a town limit and is usually restricted to in-town speeds (60 kph / 35 mph). I wonder if this will have an impact on the client when calculating driving routes. Guess it depends on how the developers interpret this definition.

I will label gravel roads "4x4 Roads" but this seems misleading. Any vehicle can navigate the gravel roads around here... even a "Smart Car". Labeling them 4x4 Roads would imply that they are rough terrain roads that are not usable unless you have a 4x4 vehicle. But if that is how the client works... I'll tag them as such.

Thanks for the feedback!

Here is an example from Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.3 ... 44196&z=13

The corresponding Waze location is here (not finished): http://www.waze.com/cartouche/?zoom=3&l ... TTFFFTTTTT

If you look on this map (Google Map) you will see 7/119 running more or less north / south. Perth Line 26 approaches 7/119 from east. I labeled both of these roads as "minor highways". Heading west from 7/119 you can see 26th Line which is a paved side road running east/west. It intersects with 122 Rd which is another side road which runs north/south which is also paved. These roads are out in the middle of the country, no towns nearby. Should they be labeled as being a "street"?

The other small roads you see in that area on that map are gravel side roads. You could drive a motorcycle down them at 50 mph with no problems. They are flat, smooth and well maintained however they area gravel roads. I hesitate to label them as being 4x4 roads when I get around to driving them.

Awesome. Good to know! Thanks for following up.

Paved side roads should be "Streets". I don't know why you'd go straight for "minor highway" when even Primary Street is there, but I digress.

I would try using "4X4 Trails" for a few of the unpaved roads, and then try navigating through them in a couple days to see if it still works properly. There is an "Avoid unpaved roads" option in the client, and I suppose this is how it is determined.

Side roads should always be Streets, though.

Ah, I see... when I hear "side streets", I think of residential roads, basically. If you could give me a permalink to the area, I may be able to better determine what we're working with. It sounds more like they'd be better as Primary Streets though.

The only rural areas I'm familiar with have, basically, a couple highways and some side streets. I suppose there are a couple streets that get you between the highways, and I would mark those "Primary Street".

And, like I said, I'm not sure how "4x4 Trails" will work. I've never used them before, but seeing as it's in the drivable section of the road type list, and seeing as there's an "Avoid unpaved roads" option in the client, I figure it's your best bet. At least, it's your best bet until (hint, hint, developers!) a more realistic-sounding "Unpaved street" option is added.

Let us know how routing works on the "4x4 Trails", if you don't mind.

wscotchmer wrote:Here is an example from Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.3 ... 44196&z=13

The corresponding Waze location is here (not finished): http://www.waze.com/cartouche/?zoom=3&l ... TTFFFTTTTT

Okay, after viewing the situation, I'd say keep 7/119 and Perth Line 26 as Minor Highways. For the others, I think the best way to go until an "Unpaved road" type is added is to name the paved roads "Primary Street" and the unpaved roads "Street", but really only as a stopgap until we get the "Unpaved road" option.

I'm going to send alpha@waze.com an email asking what "4x4 Trails" means to the client exactly, which types "Avoid unpaved roads" in the client ignores, and if we could get a more clear option in Cartouche. Feel free to send as well.

I do think "Street" is fine for the rural paved roads, i.e., the ones that don't go between towns. Routing is primarily determined by the road speed, anyway, and I think that using "Street" will make for a more reasonable-looking map.