Railroads
When mapping Railroad/Light Rail tracks, please keep the following information in mind:
Use the following guidelines when mapping railroad segments:
- By default, enter "Railroad" for the street name of every railroad segment. (See more below on Naming railroad segments.)
- Always select "None" for the city name. This avoids city smudging.
- Lock the segment at L2.
- Do not map railroads below ground, as they do not serve any of the three purposes outlined above. This is especially true in urban areas where underground rail lines are common, and their appearance on the map would be confusing to drivers.
- Set the elevation just as you would a drivable segment. When tracks junction a road on the ground, the Elevation should be set to Ground.
- Create junctions between drivable roads and railroads.[rr]
- Set railroad to 2-way directionality
- Restrict turns to and from the railroad segments.
- When mapping railroad tracks, focus on those near drivable roads.
- Map rail yards simply, with one railroad segment along either edge of the yard's tracks.
- Map industrial spurs only if they cross drivable roads.
- Do not map every piece of parallel track, such as in sidings or yards, or industrial spurs that don't cross any roads. Your work may otherwise be seen as clutter, much like mapping every parking lot row.
- Multiple parallel lines at crossings:
- At most crossings, there should be only one railroad segment mapped and no more than two parallel railroads mapped at any crossing.
- Parallel lines are to be at least 5m apart
- In general, there is no reason to have multiple lines mapped. When not at a crossing, even four parallel lines can be easily mapped as a single railroad segment in Waze.
- Keep segment lengths under 10,000 meters – the longer the segment length, the more sluggish the editor is to respond to changes.
- Do not map railroads using a drivable road type (streets, primary streets, etc.); it could be a hazard to human life if drivers were routed to them.
^rr Note: The routing server will properly account for delays at railroad crossings through a segment without a junction. However, with a junction, the historical data for the rail crossing will be more accurate.
Walking Trails
They should only be used in rare cases. Walking Trails may have strange side effects on nearby routing. Never use the Walking Trail road type for ordinary hiking paths or bike paths. Most hiking and bicycling paths should not be on the map at all.
The WME lists the Walking Trail road type as non-drivable. However, as of May 2015, Walking Trails are fully routable and even support Waze House Numbers. Waze treats them in some ways like "Dirt road / 4X4 Trail" but displays them differently. Historically, editors have disconnected Walking Trails to make sure Waze doesn't route drivers over them. This doesn't always work as desired. If a disconnected Walking Trail comes closer to a destination than any other road, Waze may route drivers to a location nearer to the Walking Trail than to the destination. This problem can be severe for Walking Trails passing close to many destinations in a dense neighborhood. Connected or not, the Walking Trail type should never be used where effects on local routing are not desired.
Dirt Roads
Dirt Roads - In Utah consideration as to the frequency of use and maintenance levels must be considered in determining whether or not to use this type.