Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
kentsmith9 wrote:The idea of this discussion thread was to determine what standard is being used in each of the states. Remember that our primary mission is to always show the driver something that should match what they see on the road. If information is not present, then local editors familiar with that state voice their opinion as to what people will recognize and translate from a Wiki direction to a roadway sign.

If each state is using completely different signs and naming conventions, I don't think it helps to have Waze use one universal convention that matches none of the states. So I think we are on the right path, but let us be cautious of simply having one editor state an opinion and then that becomes the norm. The idea was to confirm with other state editors and come to a consensus before we make a change to the Wiki guidance.

And yes the current table was derived from the default Wiki direction of spelling out the State Hwy xxx and State Rte xxx, while a number of states already determined the shorter SR-xxx was much better in reading the navigation instructions on longer exit and roadway names.
Agreed. So, then, I reiterate that the default in the chart ought to be what the locals call the roads, if that is known; otherwise it should default to the name given in the basemapped roads. As the table now stands, an editor seeking to correctly name the roads in Pennsylvania would see that State Hwy XXX was the standard instead of the State Rte XXX that came with the basemap (and which, in my experience, more closely resembles the locals' names for the numbered roads).
AlanOfTheBerg wrote:Dave!

Shields will not rely on any naming convention. They will be directly specified in the editor, selecting a shield type and display characters. Primary street name will be used for tts. App will not, in the foreseeable future, display multiple shields or shield+name.
Good to know. To me, what you're saying is that we can still break shields by editing the roads, but bringing them back will require an act of God. Because experience tells me that the developers forget all about things they say "will" happen. I'm back but I'm still jaded.
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
vectorspace wrote: (3) The TTS has an impact on this decision because SR is pronounced State Route, as far as I know (not State Road or some other things).
This certainly is important, and I hope that the developers will engineer a solution that pronounces SR-XXX as "State Road XXX" in Florida and Indiana and "State Route XXX" in other places.
(4) There is a app display issue to consider here. "State Route XXX" takes a lot more space on the display than "SR-XXX" or some other abbreviation. Is that important?
I think it is for ramps, but not anywhere else. A road named "State Rte XXX" has a length comparable to any other street name.
(5) Is the basemap original standard set (full name or abbreviated) of any value in this discussion, or is it just ancient information?
My limited research shows that it matches up pretty well with local preferences, and absent any instructions from local editors, I think it's more valuable than elevating "State Hwy XXX" (or anything) to the default standard.
Questions:

(1) Should there be a uniform cross-USA standard in naming State Route, State Highway?
IMO, no.
(2) Should there be a standard for County Road, such as CR-XXX?
Given that individual counties within a state may vary on this, and the relative unimportance of these roads, it seems that complete localization would be impossible, or at least impractical.
(3) Should there be a state-by-state standard, like NC-XXX for each state?
IMO, no.
(4) Should the state-by-state name also exists in the name or alt name fields along with SR-XXX or whatever standard is picked?
Sure. Anything that will diminish editor confusion is good.
(5) For future shield generation layer, can we get different artwork for each state to coincide with the road signs?
Eventually, this would be great, but again, not if it causes the devs to shelve the entire shield generation process.
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
kentsmith9 wrote:If you propose to change the Wiki to what you find in the state from the Basemap data, I think that is a good idea if we don't get an editor to chime in for that state.
Awesome. So have the invitations to chime in (besides this thread) gone out to the editors yet?
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
Sorry, didn't mean it that way. Of course they need to be marked. But CR-XXX, CH-XXX, County Hwy XXX, or any other format ought to be fine, even if it's not uniform throughout the state.

Ohio has county roads in all 88 counties. Some counties mark them with the default blue/gold pentagon signs, others with white squares, and others with only blades at the intersections. Most counties give them names, so the numbering format doesn't really matter.
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
After consultation with RC the1who, I suggested in the Kansas forum that "K-XXX" be considered for state highways in Kansas.
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
HavanaDay wrote:Just a general question about the K-XXX. Is that how the roads are labeled out that way. Garmin might have me trained, but aren't most states abbreviated with the State Postal code (IE NC-XX, PA-XX, VA-XX, FL-XX, GA-XX)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... _in_Kansas
http://www.ksdot.org/PDF_Files/K383Handout.pdf
http://jocogateway.com/
http://www.cityofmaize.org/k96_corridor.php

I lived there for 6 years. K-XXX is the standard.
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
Two-plus weeks of no objections to the proposals to change Michigan's state highways to M-XXX and Kansas's to K-XXX. When do we make it official?
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
sketch wrote:
orbitc wrote:Anybody have any objection for us to change them to US-XX? (similar to NY style) Thanks.
US-xx has been the countrywide standard for a year and a half. Any contrary information was due to either misinterpretation or ignorance of the naming standards somewhere along the line. So yes, you may.
Once you get going on this, please be as complete and thorough as possible. Maps with a bunch of "US Hwy 1"'s randomly scattered among the "US-1"'s look amateurish.

Has anyone investigated getting a mass change done directly to the db, swapping out "US Hwy " for "US-" wherever it still appears?
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
One potential problem with the permalinks is that they may become invalid if any of the segments is changed between when you record them and finally do the edits. For example, if someone decides to add a parking lot road somewhere, when they connect it to a segment, that segment's id changes.
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Re: Road Naming (USA)

Post by mapcat
skbun wrote:By the way, can whoever can bend Waze's ear get SR-XX implemented for state shield generation? Washington is virtually empty of state shields because we're on the new standard now and ready to roll.
Working on it.
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