That is the standard, and maybe it breaks the shield thing, I don't know. We did have a couple threads discussing it here 6-8 weeks ago? The wiki already did have the directionality part in it. We also discussed ramp naming...

I do know the shields are not being updated on the live map at all anyway. That goes for roads with or without the directionality letter. I have updates for dozens of minor highways for which no badge has been generated on the livemap for 3 months.

CBenson wrote:1) The reasoning given for using the convention is to ensure that highway shields are shown in the Live Map. However, as you state, it seems using the wiki convention, in fact, breaks the live map shield parsing.

True enough, we think, though shields aren't being generated either way, so it doesn't make any difference. If they started showing up in the client ... we'd discuss more. But, since it's been part of the wiki for some time, I think the Waze code could be quickly and easily modified to accommodate directionality.

CBenson wrote:2) It seems to me that extraneous characters are bad. Thus, I would prefer "US 50" to "US Hwy 50" and prefer "MD 3" to "State Hwy 3." If we are breaking the shield parsing anyway, why not get rid of the "Hwy?"

I'd prefer to not use the state at all in the name. State is already a separate field and that is how the (previously generated) shields in the live map were determined. Heck, since 'highways' and 'freeway' are already road types, we should be able to get away with just putting a number in the street name field and be done with it! Seriously, though, I think "Hwy 50" or "Rte 50" should be good enough to generate a state badge for State Route or State Highway, depending on your state. Interstates could remain "I-##" (why the space requirement Waze?). However, that is not our current reality.

CBenson wrote:3) I'm not seeing much of an advantage to including the directionality.

If someone is on an interstate and report an accident on I-32... does it affect you on I-32 or not? Which side of the interstate is the accident on?

CBenson wrote:For freeways, there doesn't seem to be much advantage to including the directionality in the name. The name doesn't seem to typically appear in the routing instructions on the client when the ramps are named.

It is supposed to be and should be. Every time I update interchanges, all the ramps get proper names. Because driving with GPS nav is part using the instructions and part making sure those instructions match the world on the other side of the windshield, the instruction to head "to I-32 N" is much more likely to match the real-world sign which reads "I-32 North" than just "I-32."

Anyone who is editing should be following the conventions in the wiki, otherwise there is no hope that the client will be able to provide a consistent interface to the users.

I'm new at this so I have been following the naming convention on the wiki (i.e. with directionality). However, the convention set forth in the wiki does not seem well thought out to me for the following reasons.
1) The reasoning given for using the convention is to ensure that highway shields are shown in the Live Map. However, as you state, it seems using the wiki convention, in fact, breaks the live map shield parsing.
2) It seems to me that extraneous characters are bad. Thus, I would prefer "US 50" to "US Hwy 50" and prefer "MD 3" to "State Hwy 3." If we are breaking the shield parsing anyway, why not get rid of the "Hwy?"
3) I'm not seeing much of an advantage to including the directionality.
For freeways, there doesn't seem to be much advantage to including the directionality in the name. The name doesn't seem to typically appear in the routing instructions on the client when the ramps are named. I don't see much advantage to have the two carriage ways of the interstate labeled with opposite directions on the client map as it rather obvious which direction they are going.
For the other roads, I find that I typically use the name (as opposed to the route number) as the primary name. I haven't seen a suggestion that I should use "Ritchie Hwy N" and "Ritchie Hwy S" and I have not been doing so.

The reason that I have been using the wiki convention is that it seems to me that the most important consideration is consistency and I assumed the wiki convention was what most of the editors were doing.

AlanOfTheBerg wrote: The wiki already did have the directionality part in it. We also discussed ramp naming...

The wiki when I first started around the beginning of September did not have you put the directionality in freeways. I have a printout of that page somewhere around here when I started because it also had the labeling conventions for roads that I was using as a reference when I first started. Looks like the page was last modified on the 11th of November. Now whether that was for this particular instance or not I can not say for certain. Not trying to start an argument over this but this was the reason for my original post.

AlanOfTheBerg wrote:I do know the shields are not being updated on the live map as well. That goes for roads with or without the directionality letter.

I have had some roads I edited that still don't have the shields as well.

CBenson wrote:2) It seems to me that extraneous characters are bad. Thus, I would prefer "US 50" to "US Hwy 50" and prefer "MD 3" to "State Hwy 3." If we are breaking the shield parsing anyway, why not get rid of the "Hwy?"

I generally follow the conventions in the wiki except when it comes to roads and ramp naming. For example in South Carolina I name them SC-XX. Found that writing out State Hwy XX takes up way too much space on the client and US Hwy XX seems a little long as to convey the same message as US-XX. I do this for ramp names only.

CBenson wrote:The reason that I have been using the wiki convention is that it seems to me that the most important consideration is consistency and I assumed the wiki convention was what most of the editors were doing.

That was the reason for my orginal post as well. I thought I missed something that I needed to change in my editing to keep it consistent across editors.

I can recall the topic but can't find it.

I don't remember if we actually came to a consensus. But frankly I find it helpful when viewing reports if the directionality is included in the name. If the shield icons don't work in live map, doesn't really bother me, as they for sure don't show up in the client where I really use the data. I would prefer, that we name them with directionality then fix the live map and client to work with what is actually being used.