Partial restrictions Discussion View history

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A partial restriction is entered on a segment or a turn restriction. A partial restriction is often referred to as a time-based restriction (TBR); specifically as a time-based segment restriction (TBSR) or time-based turn restriction (TBTR). They are used to allow or to restrict certain vehicle types to be routed or prevented from routing on that segment or turn. The TBSR or TBTR means the segment or turn will tell the routing algorithm that some vehicle type(s) are forbidden or allowed on a segment or turn; or some or all vehicles are forbidden at certain times, or on certain days or dates, or both; that certain special types of travel are allowed.

Note currently only private car and taxi are allowed to be selected in the app; therefore restrictions preventing trucks or buses from a segment or turn do not have any affect in the app. Setting a segment to be a bus only segment will prevent any user from being routed and is the equivalent of a prohibited all private cars and taxi restriction.

Partial restrictions are often used for bus lanes, turns that are forbidden during rush hour, segments that change direction for morning and evening rush hour, bridges and ferries that are only available during the day, and roads that are closed in winter.

If a turn is forbidden on all days, dates, and times, then use turn restriction or if the segment never allows travel in that direction then one-way road instead. If no traffic will ever be allowed to travel through an intersection, it should be disconnected. If no traffic will ever be allowed to travel on a segment, the segment should not be added to the map.

In some cases, the turn (typically left-hand) may simply be difficult to make at certain times of the day due to uncontrolled intersections during heavy traffic periods. The difficult turn should not be installed where there is a traffic light or a dedicated left turn lane.

For big road-closing events such as marathons and parades, please see Mega events For construction-related traffic closures, please see Real time closures.

Overview

This article covers how to create scheduled restrictions and vehicle type restrictions. Collectively, these can be termed Partial restrictions.

Partial restrictions can be based on:

  1. An entire segment controlling traffic flow for one or both directions TBSR
  2. Specific turns from one segment to another TBTR

Each of these restrictions can be further restricted based on combinations of:

  1. Vehicle type (trucks, buses, hazardous materials, etc.)
  2. Time of day, day of week, and date range.

Examples:

  • No left turn 7a-9a and 4p-6p weekdays
  • HOV lanes eastbound 5a-11a, westbound 3p-10p
  • Flexible capacity lanes which are a single roadway, but run a different direction for morning and evening commutes (frequently found on congested freeways and some primary streets, sometimes with limited exit or turn options to create express traffic routes)
  • Interstate truck-only ramp (not used in app at this time)
  • No trucks allowed between 9a-3p weekends (not used in app at this time)
  • Vehicle towing a trailer (not used in app at this time)

While this is a very flexible system, it can be a complex interface to manage the many combinations possible. It is certainly very important that any changes made to any current scheduled restrictions on the map be done with extreme caution so as not to destroy hours of work by prior map editors. Therefore be sure to only make changes to scheduled restrictions with careful consideration and patience.

Segments

Segment restrictions

The segment restriction method changed in 2017. Some attributes changed location in the editor and some new ones were added.

====Selecting a segment====

  1. Select a segment so that the name appears to the left of the map editor.
  2. Select the yellow Add restrictions (Time Based Segment Restrictions) on the left panel when the segment is selected.
  3. It will be Edit restrictions(#) if there is already a restriction(s) on the segment.
  4. First restriction pop-up window appears

First pop-up window

Toll

There are two ways to mark toll:

  1. Toll attribute in bottom left corner of the first TBSR popup window
  2. Toll free restriction is enabled in second TBSR popup window
Toll attribute check box

The toll attribute check box has moved to the first pop-up window of a segment restriction. It used to be under the segment's road type.

  1. Check the toll road attribute in the bottom left corner of the popup box
  2. Mark a road segment as a toll segment only if the segment has a toll booth, transponder reader, or other tolling device and if no vehicles travel as toll free on that segment.
  3. Once a segment is marked as a toll segment then the toll attribute is displayed under the road segment name. You have to go to the TBSR to deselect the attribute.
  4. Designating a segment as toll will prevent setting any vehicle type as toll free.
  5. Designating a two way segment with the toll attribute will designate both directions as a toll road. Designating a one way segment with the toll attribute will designate that direction as a toll road.
Toll by default (toll free designation)
  1. If there are any vehicle types that are designated toll free on the segment, then any allowed vehicle that is not designated as toll free is assumed to pay a toll.
  2. Note the toll free vehicle must also be listed in the allowed restrictions too.

If a vehicle type is not listed in the allowed section then Waze assumes it is prohibited and will not check for the vehicle’s toll free designation. In short Waze thinks the vehicle type is prohibited and it can't be routed there as a toll free vehicle since it is prohibited. In the example above only private vehicles are allowed on the road segment as a toll road. Private vehicles that the user designates as HOV-2+ will be allowed to use the road toll free. All other vehicle types are prohibited.

If a vehicle type is designated as toll free why doesn't Waze just recognize that they are allowed? There are notes in the restriction popup windows that impart this knowledge.

  1. Hover over the small blue lower case i in the toll free restriction and a black box pop-up appears that says "Vehciles must also meet all of the "Allowed" restrictions".
  2. Orange note in bottom left of Allowable restriction says "Other vehicles are restricted" (i.e. prohibited)

Selection of direction

  1. First restriction pop-up window has three main items:
    • A > B
    • B > A
    • Two way
  2. Restrictions have three main Types
    • Allowable
    • Toll free
    • Prohibited
  3. Restriction Types are added as Lines under the applicable direction(s) of travel.
    • The picture to the right has three Lines of restrictions; one each of Allowed, Toll free, and Prohibited
  4. Restriction Lines contain Rules which are partially displayed in the Summary; rules are fully described below
  5. Click the grey Add new box under the appropriate direction for the restriction to be entered
  6. Second restriction pop-up window appears

Note

  1. Each restriction Type on the first pop-up window is compared to other Types as an AND statement.
  2. Each restriction Line on the second pop-up window (within the restriction Type) is compared to other lines in that restriction line as an OR statement.
  3. Each restriction Rule within a single restriction Line is compared to other rules as an OR statement

So for the three restriction lines in this photo:

    • a) All Private vehicles are allowed as tolled vehicles
    • b) Private vehicles that are HOV-2+ are allowed as toll free vehicles
    • c) All vehicles are prohibited from 00-02
    • d) Since HOV-2+ is a subset of private vehicles, it does not have to added as a separate allowable restriction; the allowable restriction for all private vehicles includes private vehicles and HOV-2+

A vehicle is allowed as toll free, if it is a) a private vehicle AND b) a private vehicle with HOV-2+ AND c) Not being routed 00-02. A vehicle is allowed as tolled, if it is a) a private vehicle AND b) Not being routed 00-02. All vehicles are not allowed if it is 00-02.

Because the restrictions only include private vehicles, any user that has selected another vehicle type, ex taxi, will not be routed on the segment. Taxis are not part of the allowed vehicles so they are assumed to be prohibited. Remember the Orange note in bottom left of Allowable restriction says "Other vehicles are restricted"? This is how that note affects routing.

A user that selects avoid toll roads will not get routed here unless they signify that they are HOV-2+ (once HOV is pushed to production). They have selected to avoid toll roads, but the road is toll free if they have HOV-2+.

Second pop-up window

The second pop-up window has the label of Add restriction in the top left corner.

Second pop-up window attributes

The second line will display Driving both ways (N/E/S/W/NE/SE/SW/NW if one way) on [name of segment] is restricted on. There are several attributes that can be selected for the restriction:

  1. Applies to
  2. Days
  3. Hours
  4. Applies
  5. Restriction Type
  6. Additional information text box


Applies to

This section has two selections portion of the segment and type of special routing.

  1. Portion of segment selections are:
    • a) Entire segment
    • b) Left lane
    • c) Middle lane
    • d) Right lane

Select the appropriate portion of the segment. Note Waze can differentiate the speed difference between the lanes on a segment for the Bus/Express/FAST/HOT/HOV lanes that are separated by a dashed line from regular lanes. This does not work for the individual lanes on a road to tell you which lane is fastest when they are all the same type of road.

Specialty road type

This attribute is used to distinguish regular (none) road segments from

  1. Specialty road type selections are:
    • a) None
    • b) Bus
    • c) Fast
    • d) Express
    • e) HOT
    • f) HOT
  2. None is the designation for the vast majority of roads; if a road does not have a specialty designation then it is a regular road and should have None selected.
  3. The other designations of Bus, Express, Fast, Express, HOT, HOV are used based on the local usage. The specialty road type has to be selected to get the proper routing for that type of road. As of October 2017 there is no difference in the designations, but there will eventually be different voice prompts for the various types; therefore set the road up with a consistent usage based on what the locals call the road type.
  4. For the special designations EVERY RESTRICTION LINE on the segment should have the same specialty road type designation. If you have an HOV road that has one segment in the middle that is selected as None then the algorithm will not work properly.
  5. When multiple segments have different orientations of A>B and B>A in one selection, they may have the restrictions saved in opposite directions. This is a bug that developers are working to fix. Till it is fixed then you should carefully check each segment to ensure the restriction is in the proper direction. For one way road segments if the restriction is in the opposite direction the light orange dotted road will not be displayed; unfortunately two way road segments or one way road segments with multiple restrictions do not have a simple way to see that a restriction is in the reverse orientation.
Days (of week)

Select the applicable days of the week that the restriction will be active. Use the Select all or Select none link to more quickly change all the check boxes. The default is all days of the week. Your display order for the days will depend upon your country settings in your browser and may not exactly match the image above. Mon-Fri and Every day are the most common restriction groupings in USA.

Hours (of day)

Select the applicable hours of the day that the restriction will be active. For restrictions that apply all day long, use the default setting of All day. If the restriction is for only certain periods of time during the day, then deselect the All day radio button to allow the time to be changed. You can click the hours or minutes fields to enter times directly, or click the clock icon next to the time to enable input panels. The schedule uses a 24-hour notation. The restriction will start at the beginning of the minute designated in the start block. The restriction will go till the 59th second of the minute designated; so if you state an end time of 08:00 it goes till 08:00:59. So if a posted restriction ends at 08:00 it is advisable to end the waze restriction at 07:59; this will have the 08:00 time enacted vice carrying the restriction over for an additional minute. If the end time is selected after 23:59 then the restriction will carry over till the next day.

24-hour time 12-hour time
00:00 (midnight) 12:00 AM
01:00 1:00 AM
02:00 2:00 AM
... ... AM
10:00 10:00 AM
11:00 11:00 AM
12:00 (midday) 12:00 PM
13:00 1:00 PM
14:00 2:00 PM
... ... PM
22:00 10:00 PM
23:00 11:00 PM

In a 24-hour format, time is represented with unique hours of the day that do not require the AM and PM indicators. To convert from 24-hour time to 12-hour time (or vice versa), use the table on the right.

The minutes remain the same between the two formats.

Alternately, you can use the following math to convert from AM/PM to 24-hour format:

  • For AM times, use the time directly: 8:45 AM = 8:45 (in 24-hour format)
  • For PM times, add 12 hours to the time: 8:45 PM = 20:45 (in 24-hour format)

For example, a schedule of 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM is entered as 10:00 to 15:00; a schedule of midnight to noon (12:00 AM to 12:00 PM) is entered as 0:00 to 12:00. A schedule of 3:00 PM to 5:00 AM is entered as 15:00 to 05:00.

The time that should be entered is the local time of the road as on the local signs. The Waze server knows the local time zone and will schedule the restriction correctly.

Daylight savings time is automatically accounted for as long as the Waze client app is properly set to the correct local time.

Entering midnight

If a scheduled restriction is between 8:00 PM and Midnight, then enter "20:00 - 23:59". Technically if you enter "20:00 - 00:00" it will go to 00:00:59 but is more or less an equivalent result.

Crossing midnight

If a restriction occurs only during nighttime hours and opens in the morning, e.g., restricted between 10 PM and 5 AM, then enter the From time as 22:00 and the To time as 05:00. You will notice an information box that says the restriction will end of the following day. If this restriction is only on a certain day of the week, e.g., Saturday night and Sunday night, then select the day of the week for Sat and Sun matching the start of the restriction. There is no need to include Monday because it is automatically covered. Including the Monday check box would add a third day starting at 10 PM Monday.

Applies (to dates)

The default setting is Every week meaning there is no limit to the date range so as soon as you add the restriction it will be active every week until it is removed. Optionally you can select the radio button for Range of dates to limit the restriction to a certain number of days. Press the button displaying the date to display two calendars. The one one the left shows the start date and the calendar on the right shows the end date of the restriction. Note these date are inclusive meaning the restriction will include both dates (and all the ones in between) when determining the restriction. When you have selected the date range press the green Apply button. The date range is displayed in DD/MM/YYYY format. To remove the date range, simply select the Every week radio button again.

Remember that the end date will consider the entire day based on any time settings also configured. If the time crosses midnight, the next day will automatically be included for that time period and so that the restriction ends at the appropriate time.

Restriction types (Allowed/Toll free/Prohibited)

This is where the three main Types of restrictions are selected that appear on the first pop-up window.

  1. The three Restriction Types are:
    • Allowable
    • Toll free
    • Prohibited
  2. Restriction Types are added as Lines under the applicable direction(s) of travel.
  3. Restriction Lines contain Rules which are constructed here on the second pop-up window
  4. Allowable restrictions have green backgrounds
  5. Toll free restrictions have blue backgrounds
  6. Prohibited restrictions have red backgrounds
  7. Restriction Rules combine the type of vehicle, number of passengers required, and toll transponder/pass required
  8. Remember
    • a) Each restriction Type on the first pop-up window is compared to other Types as an AND statement.
    • b) Each restriction Line on the second pop-up window (within the restriction Type) is compared to other lines in that restriction line as an OR statement.
    • c) Each restriction Rule within a single restriction Line is compared to other rules as an OR statement
  9. Will use a toll free restriction to go over the various Rule types
  10. Select toll free if there are vehicles that can travel without paying a toll and there are some vehicles that have to pay a toll. If no vehicle type has to pay a toll then it is assumed that all vehicles are toll free and do not select toll free.
  11. Note that the restriction's background color should change to blue
  12. There are three categories to choose from for making a Rule
    • a) Vehicle type
    • b) Minimum passengers
    • c) Requires a pass
  13. The categories can be selected in any order
  14. Select the applicable Vehicle type by clicking on the +
  15. Private car is added to the restriction Line
  16. The vehicle type can be changed by clicking on Private car bubble
  17. Only one vehicle type can be selected per Restriction Rule
  18. If no vehicle type is selected then Waze defaults to have the restriction applicable to all vehicles
  19. If there is more than one vehicle type that needs a restriction then clilck Add a new rule and then the + and Vehicle type till all applicable vehicles are added as a separate Rule in the one Restriction Line
  20. Select Minimum passengers by clicking the + on the blue add restriction banner and a drop down menu will appear
  21. At least 2 passengers is added
  22. Select number of passengers required by clicking the At least 2 passengers and a drop down menu will appear with selections for At least 3 (4) passengers
  23. If no minimum passenger restriction is selected then Waze defaults to have the restriction applicable to vehicles with any number of occupants
  24. Click the + again while remaining on the same restriction as the number of passengers to select Requires a pass
  25. Sunpass is added to the restriction line
  26. Click the Sunpass area and a drop down menu will appear with available companies
  27. Select the applicable transponder company
  28. If no transponder/pass is selected then Waze defaults to have the restriction applicable to all vehicles even if no transponder/pass is selected in the Navigation settings
  29. Click Add button in bottom right corner of the second pop-up window
  30. Click Apply button in bottom right corner of the first pop-up window
  31. Click Save icon on the light blue Waze bar
  32. Remember for Toll free restrictions, the vehicles listed as toll free much be covered by the Allowable restrictions to have proper routing.
  33. Allowable restrictions are set up similarly to Toll free restrictions; Allowable restrictions will have a green background
  34. Prohibited restrictions can only select the Vehicle type
  35. Prohibited restrictions have a red background
  36. Prohibited restrictions default to All vehicles
  37. Select Only to be able to pick what vehicle type(s) will be prohibited
  38. Note DO NOT select conflicting restrictions. For example selecting a segment as a toll road with an allowable restriction line of any vehicle with Sunpass and a prohibited restriction line for any taxi will not preform properly since there is no prioritization of restrictions. A user that has designated the vehicle is a taxi with Sunpass will meet both the allowable restriction and the prohibited restriction. Until the programming has prioritization this restriction should be written as a toll road with an allowable restriction line of any private car with Sunpass. Since the taxi is not an allowable restriction then all taxis will not be routed on the toll road. This means it does not matter whether the taxi has designated Sunpass is in the vehicle or not.

Understanding Restriction Line and Rule affects

  1. If there is more than one vehicle type that needs a restriction then clilck Add a new rule and then the + and Vehicle type till all applicable vehicles are added as a separate Rule in the one Restriction Line
  2. In the above picture the Rules are treated as OR statements; therefore read this restriction as to be toll free on this segment you must be either "Private car" OR "Taxi" OR "Motorcycle". So any of the three vehicle types will meet the restriction. The first pop-up window looks like this:
  3. If you made three separate Restriction Lines with each having one Rule for "Private car"/"Taxi"/"Motorcycle], #*then you will have three separate HOV Restriction Lines. Below is a picture of one Restriction Line
  4. In the above situation the Lines are treated as AND statements; therfore read these restrictions as to be toll free on this segment you must be "Private car" AND "Taxi" AND "Motorcycle". The user must be ALL THREE VEHICLE TYPES simultaneously; since only one vehicle type can be selected at a time it is impossible to ever meet this criteria.The first pop-up window looks like this:
  5. Please take a second and look at the last two examples to see how the OR and AND statements are aligned for Rules and Lines respectively.
Additional information

This is a text box that can be used to describe the restriction or put in a source (web page) of the restriction information.

Multiple segments

Multiple segments can be selected at once for batch editing of restrictions. Selecting multiple segments is done by clicking the segments while holding the Ctrl button (or Cmd on Mac computers).

A few things to note when editing multiple segments:

  • Note the directionality of the segments - two neighboring segments can be with different A->B directionality. In one of them the A->B direction can be eastbound and in the other it can be westbound at the same time.
  • When multiple segments are selected with different restrictions set on them, they will appear in a different section of the panel under the title: 'These restrictions only apply to some of the segments selected:' Click the ‘Apply to all’ link to the right of the restriction line to propagate the restriction to all the selected segments.
  • There is a bug that the developers are working on where when several segments are selected that have a mix of A>B and B>A segments then one way restrictions may not be entered properly. This occurs on both one way and two way segments. So be very careful that they are saved properly. For one way segments, if the restriction is entered in the opposite direction of the road then the restriction coloration will not show on the segment. It will be saved in the reverse direction and can be removed and then properly entered. This occurs when copying restrictions to multiple segments or when entering new restrictions.

Turns

Time Based Turn Restrictions (TBTRs) are used when only certain turns are partially restricted from one segment to another. If the turn is always restricted then use a red turn restriction; TBTR are not to be set to 24/7.

All turning traffic restricted at all times

Turns that are restricted to all traffic (all vehicle types) are set with turn arrows—the arrows that appear at the end of a selected segment. A restricted turn is indicated by a red arrow with a red do not sign next to it (lower left arrow in picture below). A turn that is open (not restricted) to all traffic is indicated by a green arrow. A TBTR is indicated by the yellow arrow with a yellow "do not" sign next to it (upper right arrow in picture below)Turns


Scheduled turn restrictions

When not all times, days, dates, or vehicles are restricted from turning, you can set a scheduled turn restriction from one segment to another. Turns that are restricted to all traffic during certain times of the day are "time based turn restrictions".

To enter a TBTR:

  1. Select one segment
  2. Hover over a GREEN or Yellow turn restriction arrow
  3. Two icons appear
  4. Click the clock icon and the first TBTR popup window appears
  1. Note the Difficult turn (DT) attribute box in the lower left corner; the DT is described below
  2. Click on the Add new radio button under the description of the turn, the second popup window appears


Second pop-up window attributes

The second line will display Turning from [original segment] to [destination segment] is restricted on. There are several attributes that can be selected for the restriction:

  1. Days
  2. Hours
  3. Applies
  4. Restriction Type
  5. Additional information text box
Days (of week)

Select the applicable days of the week that the restriction will be active. Use the Select all or Select none link to more quickly change all the check boxes. The default is all days of the week. Your display order for the days will depend upon your country settings in your browser and may not exactly match the image above. Mon-Fri and Every day are the most common restriction groupings in USA.

Hours (of day)

Select the applicable hours of the day that the restriction will be active. For restrictions that apply all day long, use the default setting of All day. If the restriction is for only certain periods of time during the day, then deselect the All day radio button to allow the time to be changed. You can click the hours or minutes fields to enter times directly, or click the clock icon next to the time to enable input panels. The schedule uses a 24-hour notation. The restriction will start at the beginning of the minute designated in the start block. The restriction will go till the 59th second of the minute designated; so if you state an end time of 08:00 it goes till 08:00:59. So if a posted restriction ends at 08:00 it is advisable to end the waze restriction at 07:59; this will have the 08:00 time enacted vice carrying the restriction over for an additional minute. If the end time is selected after 23:59 then the restriction will carry over till the next day.

24-hour time 12-hour time
00:00 (midnight) 12:00 AM
01:00 1:00 AM
02:00 2:00 AM
... ... AM
10:00 10:00 AM
11:00 11:00 AM
12:00 (midday) 12:00 PM
13:00 1:00 PM
14:00 2:00 PM
... ... PM
22:00 10:00 PM
23:00 11:00 PM

In a 24-hour format, time is represented with unique hours of the day that do not require the AM and PM indicators. To convert from 24-hour time to 12-hour time (or vice versa), use the table on the right.

The minutes remain the same between the two formats.

Alternately, you can use the following math to convert from AM/PM to 24-hour format:

  • For AM times, use the time directly: 8:45 AM = 8:45 (in 24-hour format)
  • For PM times, add 12 hours to the time: 8:45 PM = 20:45 (in 24-hour format)

For example, a schedule of 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM is entered as 10:00 to 15:00; a schedule of midnight to noon (12:00 AM to 12:00 PM) is entered as 0:00 to 12:00. A schedule of 3:00 PM to 5:00 AM is entered as 15:00 to 05:00.

The time that should be entered is the local time of the road as on the local signs. The Waze server knows the local time zone and will schedule the restriction correctly.

Daylight savings time is automatically accounted for as long as the Waze client app is properly set to the correct local time.

Entering midnight

If a scheduled restriction is between 8:00 PM and Midnight, then enter "20:00 - 23:59". Technically if you enter "20:00 - 00:00" it will go to 00:00:59 but is more or less an equivalent result.

Crossing midnight

If a restriction occurs only during nighttime hours and opens in the morning, e.g., restricted between 10 PM and 5 AM, then enter the From time as 22:00 and the To time as 05:00. You will notice an information box that says the restriction will end of the following day. If this restriction is only on a certain day of the week, e.g., Saturday night and Sunday night, then select the day of the week for Sat and Sun matching the start of the restriction. There is no need to include Monday because it is automatically covered. Including the Monday check box would add a third day starting at 10 PM Monday.

Applies (to dates)

The default setting is Every week meaning there is no limit to the date range so as soon as you add the restriction it will be active every week until it is removed. Optionally you can select the radio button for Range of dates to limit the restriction to a certain number of days. Press the button displaying the date to display two calendars. The one one the left shows the start date and the calendar on the right shows the end date of the restriction. Note these date are inclusive meaning the restriction will include both dates (and all the ones in between) when determining the restriction. When you have selected the date range press the green Apply button. The date range is displayed in DD/MM/YYYY format. To remove the date range, simply select the Every week radio button again.

Remember that the end date will consider the entire day based on any time settings also configured. If the time crosses midnight, the next day will automatically be included for that time period and so that the restriction ends at the appropriate time.

Restriction types (Allowed/Prohibited)

This is where the two main Types of restrictions are selected that appear on the first pop-up window. Since only Allowable and Prohibited are used, Toll free is not selectable.

  1. The three Restriction Types displayed are:
    • Allowable
    • Toll free (not selectable)
    • Prohibited
  2. Restriction Types are added as Lines under the applicable direction of turning.
  3. Restriction Lines contain Rules which are constructed here on the second pop-up window
  4. Allowable restrictions have green backgrounds
  5. Prohibited restrictions have red backgrounds
  6. Restriction Rules combine the vehicle type allowed and/or prohibited
  7. Allowable and Prohibited rules have different ways of selecting vehicle types; most editors will use one or the other restriction type but not both.
  8. Remember
    • a) Each restriction Type on the first pop-up window is compared to other Types as an AND statement.
    • b) Each restriction Rule on the second pop-up window (within the Allowable restriction Type) is compared to other vehicle type(s) in that restriction line as an OR statement.
  9. Note that the restriction's background color should change to red for prohibited and green for allowed
  10. Select the applicable Allowed Vehicle type by clicking on the +
  11. Private car is added to the restriction Line
  12. The vehicle type can be changed by clicking on Private car bubble
  13. Only one vehicle type can be selected per Restriction Rule
  14. If no vehicle type is selected then Waze defaults to have the restriction applicable to all vehicles
  15. If there is more than one vehicle type that needs a restriction then clilck Add a new rule and then the + and Vehicle type till all applicable vehicles are added as a separate Rule in the one Restriction Line
  16. Click Add button in bottom right corner of the second pop-up window
  17. For Prohibited restrictions you get to enter one Rule and mark all the prohibited vehicle types at the same time in the same rule.
  18. Prohibited restrictions default to All vehicles
  19. Select Only to be able to pick what vehicle type(s) will be prohibited
  20. Note DO NOT select conflicting restrictions. There is no prioritization of the restrictions which is why it is advisable to only use Allowed OR Prohibited TBTRs but not both together on the same turn.
  21. Click Add button in bottom right corner of the second pop-up window
  22. Click Apply button in bottom right corner of the first pop-up window
  23. Click Save icon on the light blue Waze bar

Difficult turn

Note the Difficult turn (DT) attribute box in the lower left corner of the first TBTR popup window

This setting tells the routing server to add a routing penalty to the turn, meaning when calculating the time to reach the destination, this turn will include extra time so that other routes are more likely to be selected if this turn is only marginally better than another nearby route.

A turn can be considered difficult for many reasons including but not limited to the following:

Heavy traffic
  • Turn left across traffic that may be continuously flowing or fully stopped and into traffic that may also be continuously flowing or stopped.
  • Turn right into traffic that may be continuously flowing or fully stopped.
Poor visibility
  • Turn (left or right) into quickly moving traffic with poor visibility from:
  • a crest in the road
  • a sharp corner
  • an obstacle

A turn can be identified as difficult by 'multiple' drivers submitting URs or by the direct knowledge of the editor.

Do not put a DT in for the following situations:

  1. If the poor visibility turn is the only valid way into the segment (The DT will not affect routing and should be omitted)
  2. A left/right turn at a traffic light
  3. A left/right turn where there are stop signs at all paths of travel
  4. A left turn where there is a dedicated left turn lane even if left turn lane is not an at-grade connector (AGC) (car is protected and if time to turn is long algorithm will pick up)
As of May 2016, the difficult turn box is a 24 hour every day setting and not related to any other time-based restriction. That may be something available in the future but not at this time.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A partial restriction, time-based restriction (TBR), or time-based turn restriction (TBTR), on a turn or segment means some types of vehicle are forbidden or some or all vehicles are forbidden at certain times, or on certain days or dates, or both.

Partial restrictions are often used for bus lanes, turns that are forbidden during rush hour, segments that change direction for morning and evening rush hour, bridges and ferries that are only available during the day, and roads that are closed in winter.

If a turn is forbidden on all days, dates, and times, then use turn restriction or one-way road instead. If no traffic will ever be allowed to travel through an intersection, it should be disconnected. If no traffic will ever be allowed to travel on a segment, the segment should not be added to the map.

In some cases, the turn (typically left-hand) may simply be difficult to make at certain times of the day due to uncontrolled intersections during heavy traffic periods.

For big road-closing events such as marathons and parades, please see Mega events For construction-related traffic closures, please see Real time closures.

Overview

This article covers how to create scheduled restrictions and vehicle type restrictions. Collectively, these can be termed Partial restrictions.

Partial restrictions can be based on:

  1. An entire segment controlling traffic flow for one or both directions
  2. Specific turns from one segment to another

Each of these restrictions can be further restricted based on combinations of:

  1. Vehicle type (trucks, buses, hazardous materials, etc.)
  2. Time of day, day of week, and date range.

Examples:

  • Interstate truck-only ramp
  • No trucks allowed between 9a-3p weekends
  • No left turn 7a-9a and 4p-6p weekdays
  • HOV lanes eastbound 5a-11a, westbound 3p-10p
  • Flexible capacity lanes which are a single roadway, but run a different direction for morning and evening commutes (frequently found on congested freeways and some primary streets, sometimes with limited exit or turn options to create express traffic routes)
  • Vehicle towing a trailer

While this is a very flexible system, it requires what might initially look like a very complex interface to manage the many combinations possible. It is certainly very important that any changes made to any current scheduled restrictions on the map be done with extreme caution so as not to destroy hours of work by prior map editors. Therefore be sure to only make changes to scheduled restrictions with careful consideration and patience.

Segments

When no traffic or certain vehicles are not permitted on a segment (or road), you can set restrictions on the segment directly preventing any traffic flow across the segment. This is easier than trying to restrict all the turns that come from other segments to this one segment. Some restrictions may only affect a certain direction, or sometimes a road allows traffic flow one way and then later in the day it switched to the opposite direction.

Segment restrictions are added or edited through the ‘Add/Edit restrictions’ button in the left pane (or the ‘T’ keyboard shortcut).

That brings up the "Time based restrictions" panel. Segments supporting two-way traffic will display two tabs: "A to B" and "B to A" referring to the letters A and B on either end of the selected segment indicating the direction of orientation related to the direction of traffic flow.

The text below the tab will describe which direction of travel is associated with that tab to help determine which traffic direction is represented by each tab.

Click the "+ Add restriction" button to create a new restriction.

See the section Setting restrictions for information on how to set the restriction. Segment and turn restrictions are set using the same instructions covered below. You can create multiple restrictions for the segment to allow for restrictions that might only occur at different times of the day, or maybe the restriction is at different times on the weekdays than on the weekends.

Once you create the restrictions for one direction you can simply copy all the restrictions to the other direction with the link labeled "Copy all to the other side." Otherwise only one direction of travel will be restricted and the other direction will be fully open.

After a restriction is created you can edit or remove a restriction with the appropriate action buttons.

Multiple segment selection

Multiple segments can be selected at once for batch editing of restrictions. Selecting multiple segments is done by clicking the segments while holding the Ctrl button (or Cmd on Mac computers).

A few things to note when editing multiple segments:

  • Note the directionality of the segments - two neighboring segments can be with different A->B directionality. In one of them the A->B direction can be eastbound and in the other it can be westbound at the same time.
  • When multiple segments are selected with different restrictions set on them, they will appear in a different section of the panel under the title: 'These restrictions only apply to some of the segments selected:' Click the ‘Apply to all’ link to the right of the restriction line to propagate the restriction to all the selected segments.

Turns

When only certain turns are restricted from one segment to another, this method of restriction should be selected and not the whole segment.

All turning traffic restricted at all times

Turns that are restricted to all traffic (all vehicle types) are set with turn arrows—the arrows that appear at the end of a selected segment. A restricted turn is indicated by a red arrow with a do not sign next to it. A turn that is open (not restricted) to all traffic is indicated by a green arrow.

To change from a green arrow (open) to a red arrow (fully restricted) simply click on the arrow and it will toggle between the options.


Link to articles on the various turn arrow tips and tricks.
Probably include something on U turns too.

Scheduled turn restrictions

When not all times, days, dates, or vehicles are restricted from turning, you can set a scheduled turn restriction from one segment to another. Turns that are restricted to all traffic during certain times of the day are "time based turn restrictions".

Insert photo of "no left turn 7a-9a 4p-6p" sign or similar.

Accessing the editing panel is also accessed through the turn arrows. Select the desired turn arrow and click it until it becomes green. With the mouse hovering over the green arrow you will see a clock icon next to the arrow. Click on the clock to bring up the Time based restriction panel for that turn.

You should then see the Time based restrictions panel.

Press the "+ Add restriction" button to create a new restriction.

See the section Setting restrictions for information on how to set the restriction. Segment and turn restrictions are set using the same instructions covered below. You can create multiple restrictions for the segment to allow for restrictions that might only occur at different times of the day, or maybe the restriction is at different times on the weekdays than on the weekends.

Once you enter the restriction(s) and press the Apply button, you will see a Yellow arrow instead of the green arrow indicating that turn has time based restrictions enabled.

To access the edit panel for that turn, simply click the white clock that appears next to the yellow arrow. If you only click on the yellow arrow, you will turn it red indicating all times, days, and vehicles are restricted. Note that your prior settings are saved and if you click the red arrow again it will return to yellow with the last saved settings.

Difficult turn

Update image above and also show here with a highlight on the difficult turn check box

This setting tells the routing server to add a routing penalty to the turn, meaning when calculating the time to reach the destination, this turn will include extra time so that other routes are more likely to be selected if this turn is only marginally better than another nearby route.

A turn can be considered difficult for many reasons including but not limited to the following:

Heavy traffic
  • Turn left across traffic that may be continuously flowing or fully stopped and into traffic that may also be continuously flowing or stopped.
  • Turn right into traffic that may be continuously flowing or fully stopped.
Poor visibility
  • Turn (left or right) into quickly moving traffic with poor visibility from:
  • a crest in the road
  • a sharp corner
  • an obstacle

A turn can be identified as difficult by drivers submitting URs or by the direct knowledge of the editor.

As of May 2016, the difficult turn box is a 24 hour every day setting and not related to any other time-based restriction. That could be something available in the future but not at this time.

Setting restrictions

Whether you are working on a segment or turn restriction, choose the day of week, time of day, date range, and/or vehicle type to be restricted (forbidden). Follow the guidelines below for each setting.

After configuring the restriction, press the Add button on that panel to save the restriction and return to the Time based restrictions panel. Continue adding restrictions in the same way to cover combinations that may only restrict a few hours per day, but at different times of day.

Days of week

Select the days of the week that the restriction will be active. Use the Select all or Select none link to to more quickly change all the check boxes. The default is all days of the week. Your display order for the days will depend upon your country settings in your browser and may not exactly match the image above.

Time of day

For restrictions that apply all day long, use the default setting of All day. If the restriction is for only certain periods of time during the day, then select the From radio button to allow the time to be changed. You can click the hours or minutes fields to enter times directly, or click the clock icon next to the time to enable input panels. The schedule uses a 24-hour notation.

24-hour time 12-hour time
00:00 (midnight) 12:00 AM
01:00 1:00 AM
02:00 2:00 AM
... ... AM
10:00 10:00 AM
11:00 11:00 AM
12:00 (midday) 12:00 PM
13:00 1:00 PM
14:00 2:00 PM
... ... PM
22:00 10:00 PM
23:00 11:00 PM

In a 24-hour format, time is represented with unique hours of the day that do not require the AM and PM indicators. To convert from 24-hour time to 12-hour time (or vice versa), use the table on the right.

The minutes remain the same between the two formats.

Alternately, you can use the following math to convert from AM/PM to 24-hour format:

  • For AM times, use the time directly: 8:45 AM = 8:45 (in 24-hour format)
  • For PM times, add 12 hours to the time: 8:45 PM = 20:45 (in 24-hour format)

For example, a schedule of 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM is entered as 10:00 to 15:00; a schedule of midnight to noon (12:00 AM to 12:00 PM) is entered as 0:00 to 12:00.

The time that should be entered is the local time of the road as on the local signs. The Waze server knows the local time zone and will schedule the restriction correctly.

Daylight savings time is automatically accounted for as long as the Waze client app is properly set to the correct local time.

Entering midnight

If a scheduled restriction is between 8:00 PM and Midnight, then enter "20:00 - 23:59". Technically you can also enter "20:00 - 00:00" to get the same result.

Crossing midnight

If a restriction occurs only during nighttime hours and opens in the morning, e.g., restricted between 10 PM and 5 AM, then enter the From time as 22:00 and the To time as 05:00. You will notice an information box that says the restriction will end of the following day. If this restriction is only on a certain day of the week, e.g., Saturday night and Sunday night, then select the day of the week for Sat and Sun matching the start of the restriction. There is no need to include Monday because it is automatically covered. Including the Monday check box would add a third day starting at 10 PM Monday.

Date range

The default setting is Every week meaning there is no limit to the date range so as soon as you add the restriction it will be active every week until it is removed. Optionally you can select the radio button for Range of dates to limit the restriction to a certain number of days. Press the button displaying the date to display two calendars. The one one the left shows the start date and the calendar on the right shows the end date of the restriction. Note these date are inclusive meaning the restriction will include both dates (and all the ones in between) when determining the restriction. When you have selected the date range press the green Apply button. The date range is displayed in DD/MM/YYYY format. To remove the date range, simply select the Every week radio button again.

Again the end date will consider the entire day based on any time settings also configured. If the time crosses midnight, the next day will automatically be included for that time period and then the restriction will no longer be active after that ending time.

Vehicle type

Note: While the map editor and the database support vehicle type restrictions alongside time restrictions, this not true of the routing engine and mobile app. The Waze routing engine currently supports only the "Private vehicle" and "Taxi" types; all other vehicle types are not currently supported. The vehicle type restrictions are available anticipating the release of this functionality to the routing engine and the app.

However, setting up vehicle type restrictions is an important activity, as the feature cannot be turned on in the app until the map has records of most vehicle type restrictions. It will be useless, and give a false sense of confidence to drivers, to enable vehicle-type based routing if the map can't adequately support the feature due to lack of data.

There are some situations that only restrict certain vehicle types from passing through the turn or segment. Examples of this include no truck zones.

Insert some photos of real-world signs.

Also, some turns may be taken by no traffic except certain vehicles. Examples of this include HOV lanes, bus stops, and truck-only exit ramps. For example, for an HOV-2 restricted road, you might check all vehicle types except public transportation, HOV-2, HOV-3, and motorcycles.

Insert some more photos.

The default condition is All vehicle types are included in the restriction, but if only certain vehicles are going to be restricted, press the (Edit) link next to Restriction for all vehicle types to bring up the vehicle type selector.

Add a check mark only the vehicles that are not permitted during the restriction period and leave the other types unchecked. Use the Select all or Select none link to change all the check boxes.

REMEMBER: These are restrictions. The selected vehicle types will be restricted. The unselected vehicle types will be admitted.

NOTE: The Waze client app does not differentiate between different vehicle types, so these settings do not have any effect on routing.

Text Description

Leave a description for the nature of the restriction. If the restriction is the result of signs or markings, make note of this. If the restriction is the result of construction or road work, leave details about the closure.

NOTE: There is a 100-character limit in the Description field. Entering more than that will result in a "General Error" upon trying to save.

Examples

The following examples cover specific situations to provide more guidance. Some of the examples below will be turn based restrictions, but the method is the same for the segment restrictions.

Date range results

The following table includes example date range combinations and the resulting restrictions that it would generate:

Days of the week Time Range Date Range Restriction Result
Sunday All day 12.1.2014 - 12.31.2014 Every Sunday on December 2014, from 00:00 until 23:59:59.
Monday - Friday 09:00-11:00 Every Week Every weekday from 9am to 11am.
Thursday 23:00-03:00 Every Week Every Thursday from 23:00 until every Friday at 03:00
All All day 7.3.2015 - 7.15.2015 From July 3rd 2015 at 00:00 until July 15th at 23:59:59

Simple time based restrictions

For a turn or segment that is restricted (not allowed) between 10 am and 2 pm daily, click the radio button next to "From", then enter "10:00" and "14:00" as the start and end times of the restriction.

Click "Add" to add the restriction. You will be returned to the Time based restrictions panel. The panel should now reflect the added restrictions.

For a turn that is restricted between 7 and 9 am, and again between 4 and 6 pm, add the restrictions one-by-one as instructed above. When added, the panel should look like this.

Insert image of panel with 7-9 and 16-18 restrictions added - n peters to bienville example.

Overnight time based turn restrictions

Time-of-day restriction periods may cross midnight. For a turn that is restricted between 8 pm and 6 am, enter the From time as 20:00 and the To time as 6:00.

Insert image of panel with 20-23:59 and 0-6 restrictions added - bourbon street example.

Date-based turn restrictions

Some restrictions may also only be in place on certain days of the week. For a turn that is restricted "weekends", check only the boxes for "Sat" and "Sun".

Time-and-date-based turn restrictions

For a turn that is restricted "2 pm to 4 pm, weekdays", when adding the restriction, uncheck the boxes next to "Sat" and "Sun", and enter "14:00" and "16:00" in the time boxes.

Time-of-year and holiday turn restrictions

Some restrictions may only be in place during certain times of year. If on a specific date and time, set the appropriate combination.

At this time, there is no way to schedule a yearly repeating holiday restriction. You must enter each year manually. Adding more than one year at a time may be helpful. For example, adding a minimum of two years at a time would mean that you don't need to "remember" to go back to edit in the next restriction right away, or 5 sets of restrictions (to cover 5 years) would make it unnecessary for quite a long time. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to even manually update an existing date range from one year to the next; you must effectively recreate the exact start and end dates for each year.

Reversible road

Reversible roads are roads whose travel direction depends on the time of day, to allow more lanes of travel into or out of a city in order to handle the additional vehicle load during rush hours.

On the Waze map, a reversible road is set up as a 2-way road, and then the allowed travel directions are set up as restrictions. This is a bit tricky because Waze uses the idea of restrictions, which is the opposite of allowed. For example, say a road allows travel northbound only between the hours of 6AM to 11AM. Those are the allowed hours of travel that direction. In the Waze restrictions setup, we would have to ensure that travel in that direction is restricted from 11:01AM to 5:59AM.

Reversible roads with vehicle type restrictions

Some reversible roads may also be restricted to certain vehicle types. A common example of this is the reversible HOV lane.

Some cities have reversible roads set up that are also HOV lanes. Two examples are in Seattle and are the I-90 and I-5 Express Lanes. These lanes reverse travel direction depending on the time of day, but these lanes are also HOV lanes, so you aren't allowed on them unless your vehicle meets the requirements.

Below are the current setup for the I-5 Express Lanes in Seattle, WA, based on the published schedules by the Washington Department of Transportation.

While the WSDOT webpage is very simple what the schedule is, only having two entries, to translate that into restrictions is much more complicated.