User:DwarfLord/Road naming principles

This is an exploratory draft only for the purpose of generating discussion. It has no intent or authority as guidance and should not be used as such. As of September 2014 it is no longer maintained, although it may be used as source material for discussion elsewhere. The original forum thread associated with this draft may be found here.

The Waze editing community strives to maintain maps of professional quality. Roads named formally and accurately testify to professional map editing. To this end, the following principles provide a framework for deriving the most appropriate name for a road segment. These fundamental principles apply to all road types, including parking-lot roads, dirt roads, and non-drivable roads.

• Road names shall derive preferentially from government sources. These sources are, in order of priority:
  • Clear and consistent signage;
  • Local government street maps (for example county GIS); or
  • Other government data (such as state maps or topographic maps).

• If government sources provide inconsistent names for a road, local sources, such as local news articles or the knowledge of long-term local residents, may be considered to determine the most consistent name.

• The alternate name field exists primarily to support roads with multiple highway route numbers and/or numbered highways with local street names. It may also be employed to maintain multiple street names for the same road, but only if a most-consistent name cannot be established.

• The alternate name field is never for obsolete names! Waze is not intended as a road-history archive and road names no longer in common usage do not belong on the Waze map even if the roadway is marked by occasional historical signs.

• If no government source names a road on private property, it may be named according to information made public by the property owner or tenant, for example on visible signs or on maps available to visitors.

• If the above sources provide no name at all for a road segment, its name field should be marked as "None". Under no circumstances shall a road name be made up or otherwise involve editorial creativity, even if the proposed name is relevant to nearby landmarks or destinations or intended to improve voice instructions. The only exception is for routing-guidance stubs whose lengths are very short — subject to the Segment length/Minimum minimum-length requirement — so that their names will not display in the client or Live Map.

• Third-party mapping databases shall not be used to supply a road name that cannot be found in primary sources. Doing so may propagate an incorrect name or expose Waze to legal objections.