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Updating to State template USA Maryland West Virginia Virginia
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This page contains information related to editing Waze maps in the USA Mid Atlantic Region which includes Virginia, West Virginia, The District of Columbia, and Maryland. It takes precedence over any more geographically localized state-level sub-pages to insure regional unity and consistency. See the Mid Atlantic Forum for more information. Questions should be addressed to the Mid Atlantic Regional Coordinator or the State Managers. We are always looking for editors, and have fun learning in the process.

This page is maintained by CBenson. Please coordinate any changes in advance. Mid Atlantic map editors are encouraged to add/modify their own information in the Mid Atlantic Editors table below. All editors should be familiar with Best Editing Practices.

Cities and towns

Do not use the names associated with ZIP codes or the name of a neighborhood, community, or subdivision not included on the census map. Be sure to also set the city name of any alternate names correctly.

  • Maryland: There are 157 incorporated places in Maryland. When assigning the city name to a road segment or landmark, use the name of the incorporated place or CDP (census-designated place). If it is outside the boundaries of either of those, set the city name as None. If the road type is Freeway, set the city as None (except in Baltimore City), regardless of the location, as this helps with routing.
  • West Virginia: Despite its relatively small size, the Mountain State is home to approximately 3,100 cities, towns and small communities. To link them (and to provide an important part of the transport of the state’s abundant natural resources), there are some 36,000 miles of state-maintained highways that include 6,636 bridges (this figure does not include 238 railroad bridges, 117 city and county bridges, 99 West Virginia Turnpike bridges, 20 state park bridges, two private toll bridges and 132 other non-highway bridges).
  • Washington DC: Washington is the only city in the District of Columbia and it spans the entire area.
  • Virginia: There are 38 independent cities and 95 counties in the state. Proper naming information is still under discussion due to the highly urban nature of parts of northern Virginia

Road (segment) types

Determining road types in the Mid Atlantic region aligns with the Waze USA Standard for freeway, major highway, minor highways, and primary streets. The Waze USA standard is a hybrid system based on a national standard called "functional classification" with a few modifications.

Functional classification maps are available for most states. Compliance across state borders is important to insure better route selections between states; however, editors in some states have deferred adoption of the USA Standard due to in-state concerns.

Minimum Road Type Standards

Quick reference chart

Refer to this chart to determine the road type of a given paved public road based on the functional class.

To use this chart, first determine the functional class of a road, and whether it is a signed, numbered highway in a particular highway system.

Where the column for the road's highway system and the row for the road's functional class meet, you will find the proper road type for that particular road.

A number of examples are given below the chart.


Highway Systems
Interstate Interstate Business Loop/Spur US Hwy (incl. some special routes) US Hwy BUS, SPUR, LOOP State Hwy (incl. some special routes) State Hwy BUS, SPUR[a], LOOP County Route Locally-maintained
example I-10 E I-94 Business US-190 US-460 Business SR-23 SR-400 Loop CR-15 Robertson St
F
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C
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s 		Interstate[b]  Fw  n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Other Freeway[c] n/a  Fw   Fw   Fw   Fw   Fw   Fw   Fw 
Other Expressway[d] n/a  Major   Major   Major   Major   Major   Major   Major 
Other Principal Arterial[e] n/a  Major   Major   Major   Major   Major   Major   Major 
Minor Arterial[f] n/a  Major   Major   Minor   Minor   Minor   Minor   Minor 
Major Collector n/a  Major   Major   Minor   Minor   PS   PS   PS 
Minor Collector n/a  Major   Major   Minor   Minor   PS   PS   PS 
Local/not mapped n/a  Major   Major   Minor   Minor   PS   PS   Street 

^a When a state highway "SPUR" route is used to connect a state highway with another state highway, a US highway, or an Interstate (i.e., when it is used as a connector/CONN route), use the first state highway column.

^b Also known as Principal Arterial - Interstate.

^c Also known as Principal Arterial - Freeway.

^d Also known as Principal Arterial - Expressway.

^e Also known as Principal Arterial.

^f Also known as Other Arterial.


For example,

  • An Interstate Business Loop classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Major Highway .
  • A US Highway classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Major Highway .
  • A US Highway Spur route classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Minor Highway .
  • A State Highway classified as an Other Freeway is a  Freeway .
  • A State Highway classified as a Collector is a  Minor Highway .
  • A County Route classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Minor Highway .
  • A County Route classified as a Collector is a  Primary Street 
  • A locally-maintained road classified as an Other Principal Arterial is a  Major Highway .
  • A locally-maintained road classified as a Collector is a  Primary Street .


Legend
 Fw   Freeway 
 Major   Major Highway 
 Minor   Minor Highway 
 PS   Primary Street 
 Street   Street 


Alleys

The Mid Atlantic uses the following guidelines for mapping alleys.

  • Alleys should always be mapped if they have a name.
  • Alleys should always be mapped if they are the sole access to a home or business.
  • Alleys should always be set to "Private"
  • Alleys are normally mapped if they are acknowledged by the municipality.

If an alley does not meet the above criteria, mapping is optional. Leave the name field blank.

Be careful adding alleys which will be closer to the destination pins for house numbers, or from Google, as this can cause all navigation to all the addresses on that block to route onto the alley instead. It may be better not to map these alleys, or you may have to adjust all the address pins to be closer to the actual roads.

Private Road/Dirt Road

Rural farm and logging roads that are never open to the public should be marked as Private Road type to prevent routing. Most should be left off the map unless they serve multiple residences or residences out of sight of the main road. The Dirt Road/4x4 Trail designation should be reserved for public (state/locality maintained) dirt roads and Forest Service roads, etc, that a user may actually traverse freely during at least part of the year.

Non-drivable roads

Generally, if a path can't be driven on (e.g. Walking Trail, Pedestrian Boardwalk, Stairway, Runway/Taxiway) then it is not mapped.

Emergency Vehicle and DOT Service Roads

We do not map Emergency Vehicle and DOT Service Roads.

Ferries

For areas where residents are dependent upon ferries, see the Ferries Editing Manual. Please contact your RC for any questions deciding if a ferry should be mapped.

Railroads

Railroads can be mapped, but they are not a priority at this time.


Road Segment Naming

Often when US Hwys, State Roads, and County Roads pass through municipalities, they have a local name (e.g, "Main St"). Please see Road Names for instructions on how to name these segments. Check here for other states.

When to Split a Two-Way Road

Generally, a road should be undivided unless it meets ALL of the requirements for dividing a road. When initially reviewing whether to divide or "un-divide" (merge back together) a roadway, consider these points first:

  1. The default representation for any roadway is a single 2-way segment, even if the physical roadway is divided. Dividing a roadway carries with it the burden of proof that the change will improve the usability and/ or simplicity of the waze map.
  2. If a road is currently working with no problem reports, consider leaving it as is.
  3. Try to avoid switching roads back and forth between being divided and 2-way. For example, if most of the road is clearly divided and only parts would be considered a single two-way road, consider leaving it all divided. If only a small portion seems better off divided, consider keeping it all 2-way.


A road may be divided when ALL of the following conditions are met:

  • GPS tracks show a clearly definable and continuous gap (blank area) between the color-by-azimuth arrows at the 100m/500ft zoom level,
  • Multiple houses or businesses with no off-street parking are located directly on the street but are not accessible from the opposite direction of travel due to lengthy median, obstruction, or traffic control signage, or
  • U-turns are required to properly make turns from public driveable road types that are blocked by a median. (this will soon not be a reason as u-turns will be working in the client soon)

A road should not be divided when:

  • The non-driveable median is interrupted by a cross segment at most intersections.
  • There is a center turn lane (any width) between directions of travel. Dividing this type of road creates problems when people turn from the middle lane because there is no road for the navigation to follow.
  • It is possible and legal to make a left turn/u-turn everywhere along the road
  • The objective is solely for visual appearance or to make the road match another visual source like Google Maps. MATCHING GOOGLE (or any other map product) IS NOT A REASON.

Remember that dividing and undividing roads each comes with its own set of problems. Each situation is unique and some issues may be more manageable with a single two-way road, and some may work fine with a divided road. Consider every aspect of routing, and carefully examine each junction before dividing or undividing. Regardless of whether you're dividing or undividing, remember that you might cause more problems than you solve and you might have to put it back the way it was before. Also remember that dividing and undividing each cause loss of some traffic data, which can result in poor Waze routing.

Mapping Resources & Functional Classification

Use only state DOT level FC maps when determine how to type (classify) a segment (Major Hwy, Minor Hwy, etc.). Some counties and cities have their own FC system, but only the state level system is to be used as a reference as these have been through a federal and state level approval process.

Maryland

Functional classification

Please review the USA Functional Classification page for details on this topic. In rare cases, a particular road may require a different type than prescribed in the national guidance. Before changing the type of any road past the bounds of the rules, please post the situation to the Maryland Forum to receive feedback. Maryland resources can be found in the following links:

State-wide
SHA Highway Location Reference
nzahn1's Mapping Resources (2012, Google Earth)

Use this tool to identify street addresses. MD Dept of Planning recommends Firefox for this mapping application, however Chrome works well too). Under the Contents tab, check Parcel Boundaries and uncheck all other options. Navigate to a property and click it, then click SDAT URL in the popup for the Real Property page.

Baltimore City
MDOT Baltimore City Federal Aid Eligible Roads (2009)
Carroll County
Carroll County Function Classfication Webpage (2007)

Counties and cities

Use these maps for the names of local roads and smaller streets not identified on the state maps. Some also provide house numbers.

Washington DC

These are official sources of information that can be used in the editor, in the form of downloadable PDFs or interactive GIS maps. See Using External Sources for acceptable sources of information.

DC Atlas Plus

West Virginia

State highways that are primarily signed at entering intersections with a State Route number rather than a road name should be named SR-### ("SR-2"). County roads that are primarily signed at entering intersections with County Road numbers rather than a road name should be named CR-## or CR-##/## ("CR-65" or "CR-91/1").

Virginia

In Virginia, outside cities and major towns (and a couple of urban counties), nearly every road and street is designated as a "state highway" and assigned a number for VDOT inventory purposes. However, for Waze routing, we only treat primary state highways as "numbered state highways" for purposes of applying the road type guidelines. Highways marked with primary route numbers must be designated as at least "Minor Highway" in Waze, unless the road's functional classification requires a higher designation. For Virginia secondary highways, rely on the road's functional classification only.

Primary state highways have numbers in the range of 2 to 599 (and, as exceptions, 785, 895), displayed in a route marker using a shield design. All other numbers from 600 up are secondary highways; if these roads have route markers (many do not), they use a circle design instead of a shield. See Virginia DOT Route Index Resources for more info.

  • Primary route marker

    Primary route marker

  • Secondary route marker

    Secondary route marker

Update Requests & Comments

The Mid Atlantic follows the national Update Requests & Comments guidance. Do NOT leave reminders at 4 days (or however many days). If another editor left a comment for the reporter, there is no response from the reporter, AND it has been 7+ days....simply put a comment about why it's being closed (i.e. "Closed due to inactivity.") and mark it Not Identified.

Do not over complicate the UR process, and please do not leave lengthy questions/responses. There are a few UR comment scripts that have been designed and approved by higher ranked editors available for your use. Scripts Page

Places

The Mid Atlantic follows the national Places guidance.

To prevent loss of data due to automatic acceptance of submissions from "trusted users, all area places and points with complete data should be locked to Level 2 at minimum. Places (formerly called landmarks) in Virginia now follow the detailed guidance in the US standard for places. Additionally, please consult the following table for minimum lock level for completed places.

Place Type Minimum Lock Level
Area Places 2
Gas Stations 3
Hospital/Medical Care 4
Fire Department 3
Police Station 3

Red Light/Speed cameras

§17C-6-7a of the West Virginia Code prohibits use of cameras to detect or prove traffic law violations.


There are no speed enforcement cameras anywhere in the Commonwealth of Virginia as they are illegal. Red light cameras are legal, but the number of them is regulated by State law.


In Washington DC there are seven different types of traffic enforcement cameras. Below is a table containing each type of camera and how it should be mapped.

Camera Type Icon Used
Traditional Speed Cameras Speed Camera
Speed Cameras at Intersections Speed Camera
Traditional Red Light Cameras Red Light Camera
Gridlock Cameras Red Light Camera
Stop Sign Cameras Red Light Camera
Pedestrian Right of Way Cameras Red Light Camera
Oversized Vehicle Cameras Not Mapped


Reference the DC MPD Automated Traffic Enforcement page to verify camera locations.


In Maryland speed cameras are authorized for use in the following areas: school zones throughout the state, work zones on freeways and major highways, and on streets in Montgomery County. Speed cameras can be mounted to a pole, concealed in a metal cabinet on the ground, or mounted on a trailer or vehicle parked on the shoulder, such as ones used in work zones. Most speed cameras in Maryland will not issue a ticket unless the vehicle is exceeding the speed limit by at least 12 mph; however, when setting the speed of a camera in the editor, use the speed limit of the road. Many speed cameras in school zones are portable and moved on a regular basis, in some cases weekly. This is usually indicated on the website and may include a rotation schedule. These reported camera locations should not be on the map. Red light cameras are also authorized for use throughout the state. Some red light cameras also include radar, and enforce speed limits. This is especially true in Baltimore City.

Other camera types

These are cameras or signs that either provide driver feedback or are used for traffic control such as DOT monitor cameras and emergency vehicle detectors. These devices CAN NOT issue tickets and should not be mapped.

How to Identify Cameras.

Mid Atlantic Area Managers

If you reside in and are granted Area Manager editing privileges or higher anywhere in Maryland, DC, West Virginia, or Virginia please add yourself to this table.

Username Area Managed
Rank 6 Country Managers
CBenson Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator
Rank 5 State Manager
Kodi75 MD State Manager
Trooster10 MD State Manager
russblau DC State Manager
ct13 VA State Manager
Mike-1323 VA State Manager
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