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Wayfinders
A wayfinder gives a user an instruction directing them how to continue on the road the user is already on, in situations where it may be unclear, and there would otherwise be no instruction.
Criteria
A wayfinder is warranted in the following cases:
The continuation path on a controlled-access highway or freeway, when an exit is present on the typical side, has at least two fewer travel lanes after the exit than before it;
The continuation path on an uncontrolled highway, or when an exit is present on the atypical side, has at least one fewer travel lanes after the exit than before it;
The continuation path consists of a single lane; or
Other conditions exist that may suggest a split rather than an exit (use your better judgement, and discretion) -- for example:
The physical roadway itself forks or diverges with no clear straight-ahead direction;
Signage and striping do not clearly provide all expected "exit" indications, or do so inconsistently; or
Signs are present with arrows pointing left and right but no sign clearly establishes the continuation.
A travel lane is a lane which is long enough that a naïve driver might consider it a long-distance lane. For our purposes we will clarify this as any lane which;
before nearing the exit, is neither striped nor signed as a departing lane over a significant length (approximately ¾ a mile, or its full length, whichever is shorter), and
has not just started within a mile before the exit.
The original text of the wayfinder criteria to be replaced
A wayfinder gives a user an instruction reminding them to stay on the road the user is already on, in situations where a reminder is warranted. A wayfinder is warranted in the following situations:
Lane drops, where at least as many lanes leave the road as stay on the road;
Non-obvious continuations, where at least one "exit only" lane exists on the side of the road where exits are not normally placed (in a right-hand traffic country, exiting traffic is to the left and continuing traffic is to the right); and
Inconsistent signage, where a highway continues as a numbered route, but signs call it only by a name.
Need sample images for "lane drops" and "non-obvious continuations"; also, example of BGS with lane arrows
In these cases, we need to use a wayfinder configuration. Each wayfinder configuration will have one "IN" segment and two "OUT" segments.
Segment naming
Keep these basic principles in mind:
The OUT segments must both be the same type (either Freeway , Major Highway , Minor Highway , or Ramp , as explained below).
Each OUT segment must have a name different than the IN segment.
OUT segments should be named with the information displayed on the roadway signs.
However, if this would leave an OUT segment with the same name as the IN segment, the OUT segment should be left with no-name.
If there is no roadway signage, and the OUT segment is a continuation of the same road; it should be left with no-name.
If there is no roadway signage, and the OUT segment is an exit; it should be named following the guidelines for an unsigned exit.
If there is no roadway signage, and the OUT segment is a short continuation of the same road leading to an exit or road termination; it should be named following the guidelines below beginning with "to ".
Previously in these situations segment naming was modified in one of the following ways in order of preference:
Add a control/destination city, if it is known, to the OUT segment name.
Remove the compass cardinal from the OUT segment name.
Add a space to the end of the OUT segment name (note that this will be flagged by the WME Validator script, if active, and possibly result in undoing by another editor)
Create a stub in the IN segment just before the junction with no street name.
NOTE: This option should only be used as a last resort because it prevents the routing server from properly calculating turn delays, and may result in inefficient routing through the area.
If you see any of these set-ups, please correct it to one of the two the proper methods listed above.
Do not use "to" at the beginning of the name of the OUT segment if it is for a continuation of the same road, e.g. a freeway split where one side is the continuation of the same freeway (the user is already on the road, not going "to" it).
The exceptions to this rule would be:
If the BGS explicitly says "TO ...", in which case that part of the BGS should be moved to the end of the segment name after a slash (/). If the control city only applies to the second road you would follow this to, then the control city should be after that road on the segment name.
(e.g. A BGS to continue on the I-80 To I-280, with a control city Morristown, should be named "I-80 / Morristown / To I-280".
If the control city on the BGS ONLY applies to the second road (I-280 in our example), then the control city should be placed after that highway, e.g. "I-80 / To I-280 / Morristown".)
If the name on the BGS is not the name of the road you are continuing on, then it should be prefixed with "To".
The same will apply if there is no BGS, but the name you give that OUT segment is not the name of the road you are continuing on. (e.g. the Wayfinder is just before, but not at the termination of a road, and the OUT segment would be named for the roads that leads to at the termination. However you still must travel for a short distance on the continuation of this road until those exits/termination.) Our example.
(e.g. The left OUT of this wayfinder should be named "To I-71 N / Columbus" because after you pass it you are still on I-471 for a while.)
If the name of the continuation OUT segment IS on the BGS, but is not the first thing on there, it should still be first in the segment name. (e.g. In this wayfinder the highway you are on now, and continuing on is I-275, so the segment name should be "I-275 N / I-74 E / US-52 E / Cincinnati".)
Each "stub" segment should be Segment length/Minimum long. This is long enough so it will not cause routing problems, but it is short enough to suppress display of the names (on Freeway stubs) and keep freeways looking contiguous (on Ramp stubs).
The OUT segments should have a turn angle of 10°-20° off of the mid-line on opposite sides of each other, consistent with the geometry for freeway splits. This will allow for easy identification in WME, but still look seamless in the client app.
Configuration
To configure the wayfinder,
If the numbered/signed exit is on the right, the OUT segments should be Ramp type. This will give an "exit right" instruction for the exit and a "stay to the left" instruction for the continuation.
For a basic exit, use a named Ramp stub for the continuation, and a standard Ramp for the exit.
If the numbered/signed exit is on the left, the OUT segments type should be the same as the IN segment , in the following examples we will use the Freeway type. This will give "stay to the" instructions on both sides (if Ramp segments were used, Waze would give a confusing "exit right" instruction for the continuation).
For a basic exit, use a named Freeway stub for the continuation, and an unnamed Freeway stub followed by a named Ramp for the exit.
For a freeway split, use named Freeway stubs on both sides.
