Great description !

Well done

Perfect description Vince. Thank you.

I've nothing to add.

I also think off-road and unpaved segments are the hardest to edit if you are not a local.

STATUS: Approved

Introduction

This is regarding agricultural roads and roads going through fields in country-side zones.
(DE: Landwirtschafts Straßen und Wege durch die Felder)
(FR: Chemins agricoles et chemins à travers champs)


For this issue the appropriate Waze Map Editor road types and segment attribute we will speak about are:

• TYPE: Street (Strasse; Rue)
  Normal. No penalty.
• ATTRIBUTE: Unpaved (Nicht asphaltiert; Non bitumé)
  Can be added to any Street. Adds a penalty which lets the user choose if he wants to avoid it or not via the client setting "Settings > Navigation > Dirt roads: Allow or Don't allow or Avoid Long ones".
• TYPE: Private roads (Privatstrasse; Route privée)
  Special type. Always a strong penalty, routing will never be possible under normal circumpstances or unless the destination is found on the segment.
• TYPE: Off-road / Not Maintained (Off-road; Chemin de terre / 4x4 Trail)
  Special type. Always a very strong penalty, routing will never be possible under normal circumpstances or unless the destination is found on the segment.

Possible cases on the map

(A) Dirt roads with a traffic ban sign except some vehicles - Private roads
https://s9.postimg.cc/wigl1klkv/mini_16 ... 209863.png https://s9.postimg.cc/efniacxfz/mini_16 ... 366175.png
This will block all traffic except the ones who enter an address on this type of road.

(B) Dirt roads without a traffic ban sign - 1. Street + Unpaved or 2. Off-road / Not maintained
https://s9.postimg.cc/8rh7jhg8v/mini_16 ... 533166.png https://s9.postimg.cc/yn0y2oacv/mini_16 ... 857804.png
This is left to the appreciation of each editor and can be enforced by local AMs or CMs (by locking the segment if needed), but should be chosen while thinking about the majority of Wazers above minorities and while considering the following:

1. This solution will allow users to decide if they want to take the road or not using the in-app setting.
2. This solution will avoid routing in 99% of situations, even for those who want to drive on dirt roads. It should be used only if you feel that the user should *not* be able to choose for himself. (eg. A 4x4 trail where a normal car would surely get stuck or damaged.)

(C) Small paved field/country roads with a traffic ban sign except some vehicles - Private roads
https://s9.postimg.cc/hz9g05kq7/mini_16 ... 560474.png https://s9.postimg.cc/xxi5qb23j/mini_16 ... 883816.png
This will block all traffic except the ones who enter an address on this type of road.

(D) Small paved field/country roads without a traffic ban sign - 1. Streets or 2. Narrow road
https://s9.postimg.cc/w5p6vdnvj/mini_16 ... 252736.png https://s9.postimg.cc/j1jmio8of/mini_16 ... 124768.png
This is left to the appreciation of each editor and can be enforced by local AMs or CMs (by locking the segment if needed), but should be chosen while thinking about the majority of Wazers above minorities and while considering the following:

1. People can be routed through roads they have the legal right to drive on. That is acceptable but please consider that this has often triggered UR's because Wazers in general do NOT like to be routed across fields for long distances on 1-lane roads where it's hard to cross if another car is coming in the opposite direction. People complained in the past that they thought Waze had lost them in the middle of nowhere, and women driving alone at night felt scared, Waze should make people feel safe.
2. This solution was made possible with the introduction of the new road type "Narrow road" which allows to indicate to the routing server that the road is not wide-enough for two cars to pass eachother, so it will apply a penalty and prefer to go around them. We used to have to map such roads as "unpaved" even though that was not accurate for routing to avoid them, but with the new type being now available we can use that instead as it is more appropriate.

Important note on the unpaved attribute:

The attribute was designed to work only on segments that do not already have a type penalty. Checking the box of the unpaved attribute on segments with a type penalty is useless and will change nothing.

• You can use unpaved on Streets, Primary Streets, Minor Highways, Major Highways and Freeways
• Using unpaved on Parking Lot Roads, Private Roads, Narrow Streets or Off-road / Not maintained types is completely useless and should not be done.

Please also keep the following in mind:

Waze is before all a community traffic app for commuters, it is neither
- an off-road 4x4 gps
- a pedestrian helper
- a mountain bike navigation
- help for farmers who don't find their way back home

So lets keep drivable and public roads the main focus and map other segments mainly for orientation. These guidelines do not mean that anyone should start mass-editing field roads in Switzerland or in any region, they only show what it is acceptable/recommended to follow, and as these roads are not a priority for routing, any change should be done on a " if needed" basis (eg. when there is an UR).


You are welcome to add your comments.

Changed the status to approved since nobody raised any objections to the recommendations.