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Waze not learning my preferred route and can't save Alt Rte

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I have been using Waze for over a year and I take my "preferred route" everyday, yet Waze still tries to direct me the long way around. It has never learned my route. Also, when I take an alternative route (not necessarily turn-by-turn as Waze advised, but workarounds in some segments of the route I may have found on my own), I would like to be able to save that route. Sometimes it's so complicated to get around known bottlenecks in my area, I can't remember what I did from one week to the next. Is there any way to save an Alternate Route that worked out particularly well??

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Post by AlanOfTheBerg
Please read the FAQ concerning waze not learning routes. Waze does not learn routes.
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Post by AlanOfTheBerg
All of that is pretty concisely covered in the FAQ...
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Post by AlanOfTheBerg
witfits wrote:Thanks, Auto-learn routes... to me, says, I will figure out which route you'd like to take based on the routes you take over time. For what it offers, I wish the function-label was something like... "Remember destinations?" But you can see how that would go. How many destinations? On which days? Which one to chose first? etc.
I find that it does remember days and times. Like on weekday mornings, I get the "to work?" problem but on other days, I have received the prompt to go to my local coffee shop I meet with friends on Friday morning. Or on Sunday mornings, to drive to church.
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Post by AlanOfTheBerg
ear8dmg wrote:Waze does sort of learn routes.
At this time, it really does not. What it presents as routes are what it deems to be the fastest (or shortest depending on your settings) at the time you request it. If Waze has mature street speed data to work with, and you always drive the fastest (or shortest) route anyway, it will look like Waze has learned your route, but really, it just learned the faster route.

In my case, the route I choose for work is never selected first because it isn't technically the fastest. However, it is the safest, and the one with better fuel economy. And anyone else who doesn't, on purpose, take the fastest route for various reasons, will experience the same: Waze does not learn your preferred route.
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Post by AlanOfTheBerg
Richardtreadway wrote:It would be a nice feature to have Waze be able to learn a route. Then you could compare your preferred route to the others.
It's coming. Again. Should be this year.
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Post by CBenson
witfits wrote:Waze will learn where you're going on a regular basis. For instance, if you leave for work everyday and start the trip by entering "work" as your destination, Waze will offer that as a destination. Perhaps if the application offered an option to remember your destination rather than your route might help with user-comprehension.
Just to clarify a bit, you need to have the setting "Auto-learn routes to frequent destinations" in the advanced setting menu ticked for Waze to learn your frequent destinations. So it seems to me that Waze does offer the option as you suggest.

Waze used to market a different feature regarding actually learning routes. This feature never worked well and does not currently work at all. However vestiges its description remain in the app and the marketing materials. For example, on the alternate routes screen I get this:
Learning.jpg
(27.3 KiB) Downloaded 7693 times
The problem is you can't currently teach Waze your preferred route by simply driving them several times. So what really needs to happen is for Waze to either implement the feature or eliminate references to it in the app and the marketing materials.
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Post by crazed_out
I think it really learns routes. I have a favorite route between home and work that isn't the fastest but the traffic is so much lighter that it doesn't matter it takes a couple of minutes more than Waze's two favorite routes. After a couple of days it automatically displays personal favorite as the second route alternative. Something tells me that since I drove this route repeatedly I tought Waze it exists and that it should be among the routes displayed. Either that or it actually sometimes is the faster second alternative.

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Post by ear8dmg
Waze does sort of learn routes.

The routes are based on the speed data and map data available. I had a big map editing spree on my potential commuting route, clearing up a lot of minor problems. I also deliberately drove some alternative routes giving similar times. Now Waze seems to offer some very sensible routes enar me. So, edit the map and drive the routes. If your route is genuinely faster it should show up eventually.

The route-learning happens at the Waze server end and not on your device client. It may take a while for it to have all the available data to give the route you want. Also - driving the clear side streets may feel quicker than sitting in traffic on the highway but it might not actually take less time.
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Post by fvwazing
JetPilots wrote:Obviously until the functionality is promoted to the app Waze devs need to remove the language under Routes that states, "Teach Waze your preferred routes driving by driving them several times." That clearly means if you drive a particular route several times Waze will learn it and begin to learn it as an option. The statement does not at all mean, even imply, drive the routes Waze recommends so it can collect traffic data and perhaps one day it will accumulate enough to realize another route is faster (see FAQ on this topic).
In the dutch translation of the Wazeapp, we did exactly that. Nobody ever complained since. Because the (US)english version is done by the Waze HQ you have to live with that... spam them!
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Post by JetPilots
Obviously until the functionality is promoted to the app Waze devs need to remove the language under Routes that states, "Teach Waze your preferred routes driving by driving them several times." That clearly means if you drive a particular route several times Waze will learn it and begin to learn it as an option. The statement does not at all mean, even imply, drive the routes Waze recommends so it can collect traffic data and perhaps one day it will accumulate enough to realize another route is faster (see FAQ on this topic).
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