National resources/Functional classification Discussion View history

Functional classification is a system by which roads are classified using a set of criteria selected by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). These criteria include not only the physical attributes of the road but also efficiency of travel, number of access points, speed limits, route spacing, actual usage, and continuity. This can lead to quite different classifications for roads that appear similar. For example, a six-lane divided road in an urbanized area may be a Collector (Primary Street); a two-lane road through the middle of a town may be a principal arterial (Major Highway).

In Waze, functional classification is used to determine road type in the United States.

Functional classification is a national standard, but functional classification maps are published by state departments of transportation. Links to functional classification maps for each state can be found in the table below.

Reason for changes

The Waze forum holds a lengthy discussion on why the Functional Classification changes are being made.

Functional classification maps by state

State Interactive map Static maps Notes
Alabama ALDOT
Alaska Alaska DOT
Arizona ADOT
Arkansas ArcGIS Viewer AHTD FC Overlay for ArcGIS - To use the overlay, click on the "Modify Map" in the upper right corner of ArcGIS. On the left side an "Add+" tab will pop up. Click on it and select "Add Layer from Web" and paste in this URL:  http://gis.arkansas.gov/arcgis/rest/services/FEATURESERVICES/Transportation/MapServer/8
California Caltrans Earth Caltrans Caltrans Earth is down, for the foreseeable future. Please use the Static maps. :(
Colorado CDOT MapView
Connecticut Connecticut DOT
Delaware DelDOT
District of Columbia DDOT
Florida FDOT's Downloadable GIS files See Southeast Region Wiki Please DO NOT use the FDOT Enterprise IMAP for doing Functional Classification Changes. It is out of date.
Georgia Atlanta Metro (proposed) Statewide FC maps under review by DOT; not available online until Sep 2014(?). See forum for details.
Hawaii Hawaii DOT The updated HDOT GIS Website requires the Adobe SVG Viewer.
Idaho ArcGIS Webmap
Illinois Getting Around Illinois Illinois DOT If interactive and static map disagree, use the interactive map classification and please notify Illinois SM's of the road and map in error.
Indiana INDOT FC Layer
Iowa IowaDOT
Kansas KDOT
Kentucky KYTC Functional Class Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Louisiana LaDOTD Interactive Online Map LaDOTD
Maine MaineDOT MaineDOT
Maryland MD SHA via nzahn1 MD SHA Interactive Maps transformed from MD SHA data to Google Earth(.kml) by nzahn1
Massachusetts Road Inventory Map massDOT Select Federal Functional Classification from pulldown list on Road Inventory Map.
Michigan MDOT PR Finder MDOT
Minnesota MnDOT Basemap MnDOT
Mississippi MDOT
Missouri MoDOT
Montana ArcGIS Webmap MDT

Statewide PDF

Nebraska Nebraska Department of Roads
Nevada Nevada DOT
New Hampshire New Hampshire DOT
New Jersey NJDOT
New Mexico NMDOT NMDOT
New York NY State DOT FC Viewer
North Carolina NCDOT
North Dakota NDDOT
Ohio TIMS

Ohio DOT

Oklahoma ODOT ArcGIS ODOT
Oregon ODOT TransGIS ODOT
Pennsylvania PennDOT MPMSIQ PennDOT In the MPMSIQ map, use the operational > FC layer. <br\>Information in the older static maps is out of date.
Rhode Island RI Division of Planning
South Carolina SCDOT GIS/Mapping
South Dakota SDDOT
Tennessee TDOT
Texas TxDOT Statewide Planning Map
Utah UDOT
Vermont VTrans
Virginia VDOT
Washington WSDOT
West Virginia WV DOT
Wisconsin WisDOT
Wyoming WYDOT Appears on U.S. Forest Service - WYDOT Liaison Program
Other urban FC maps appear on various WY city government pages