This page contains information related to editing Waze maps in the USA Southeast Region which includes Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. It takes precedence over any sub-pages for the states that constitute the Southeast region to ensure regional unity and consistency. Questions should be addressed to the SE Regional Coordinator or the State Managers. See the Southeast Forum for more information. You can also send a request to the State Managers or the SE Regional Coordinator to join our private slack chat group. We are always looking for editors, and have fun learning in the process. This page is maintained by driving79. Please coordinate any changes in advance. Southeast map editors are encouraged to add/modify their own information in the Key Southeast Region Editors table below. All editors should be intimately familiar with Best Editing Practices. Contents [hide] 1 States, Counties and Localities 1.1 Alabama 1.2 Florida 1.3 Georgia 2 Road (segment) types 2.1 Minimum Road Type Standards 2.2 Dirt (unpaved/gravel) roads 2.3 Road Segment Naming 2.4 Road Segment Locking 2.5 When to Split a Two-Way Road 3 Mapping Resources & Functional Classification 3.1 Alabama 3.2 Florida 3.2.1 Florida Mapping Resources 3.2.2 Florida Functional Classification 3.2.3 Unsigned Florida SR#'s along US and Interstate Highways 3.2.4 How to determine the City Field in Florida 3.3 Georgia 4 Update Requests & Comments 4.1 Boots on the ground 5 Places (formerly Landmarks) 5.1 Place Lock Standards 5.2 Place Harmonization 5.2.1 Chain Harmonization Sheet 5.2.2 Category Sheet 6 Major construction projects 7 Special Roads 7.1 Alleys 7.2 Non-drivable roads 7.3 Emergency Vehicle and DOT Service Roads 7.4 Ferries 7.5 Railroads 8 Segment & Turn Restrictions 8.1 U-Turns 8.2 Closed Roads 9 Cameras 9.1 Red light cameras 9.1.1 Known Camera Locations 9.2 Speed Cameras 9.3 Other Camera Types 10 Forums 11 Key Southeast Region Editors 12 Discipline States, Counties and Localities
Alabama WME Counties Alabama Census 2014 Overview: There are 426 municipalities and 67 counties in the state. The primary urban centers are Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery (state capitol), and Huntsville, all pierced by or nearby the I-65 corridor. The toll system is Freedom Pass. Alabama is in the Central time zone. Florida Overview: There are 473 municipalities and 67 counties in the state. Orlando and neighboring Lake Buena Vista endure the most editing and map reports due to their popularity as global tourist destinations. The toll system is "Sunpass" (toll rates) and it is near impossible to travel anywhere in Florida from Orlando southward without encountering it. Outside of Florida, it is compatible with the NC QuickPass, and the GA PeachPass (see below). Florida spans the Eastern and Central time zones, with the dividing line at the Apalachicola River west of Tallahassee. Disney World: Disney World has been edited and locked to rank 5 for segments and rank 6 for areas/points. If you see an issue anywhere in Disney World, please post it to the unlock request forum, or alert a rank 5 or 6 editor with the problem and it will be fixed. Georgia Overview: There are 523 municipalities and 159 counties in the state. The toll system is PeachPass and is primarily found on HOV lanes in metro Atlanta. Some HOV lanes require PeachPass. Outside of Georgia, PeachPass is compatible with the FL Sunpass, and the NC QuickPass. Georgia is in the Eastern time zone. Road (segment) types
Determining road types in the Southeast 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. If you edit in any region than the Southeast, you must comply with that state's recommendations. Although the Waze USA Standard permits some road-type selection deviation, at present no Southeast deviations are permitted, but may be in the future. Minimum Road Type Standards Interstate = Freeway US Hwy = Major Highway (MH) State Roads = Minor Highway (mH) Dirt (unpaved/gravel) roads The USA Standard (matrix table) does not specify how to set unpaved road segments, so we define that here. Unpaved roads may or may not be classified in the Southeast state's functional classification system. If they are, set the road type according to the functional classification. If they are not, set the road type to Dirt Road / 4x4 Trail. To stay aligned with the USA Standard, a County Road functionally classified as Local, or a Local street classified as a collector, is still to be set as a Primary Road. A Local street functionally classified by the DOT as Local, is a Street. Otherwise, dirt is dirt. The majority of dirt roads are not functionally classified. How to determine when to set a dirt road as type dirt road Dirt (unpaved or gravel) County Road Street Functional Class Collector
PS PS
Local
PS Street
not classified Dirt Dirt If the users' client options are set to avoid dirt roads, they will still be routed on dirt roads functionally classified as either a Collector or Street. This is necessary to insure beginning-to-end routing should the origin/destination be on an unpaved road however, Waze route pruning will only consider these lower-priority roads (Primary Street, Street, Dirt) near the origin/destination. Examples: An unpaved County Road identified in the DOT FC system as a Collector is a Primary Street. An unpaved street identified in the DOT FC system as a Local road is a Street. Any unpaved road not listed in the DOT FC system is Dirt. Road Segment Naming Interstates: I-xx US Hwy: US-xx State Road/Rte/Hwy: SR-xx County Rte/Hwy: CR-xx 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. Road Segment Locking There are some cases that do not adhere to this standard, such as military base gates (6), and any theme park type areas in Orlando (5/6). Standard for locking roads in the southeast region: Segment Type Default locks
Freeway 5 Ramp 5 Major Highway 5 Minor Highway 4 Primary Street 3 Street 1 |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| 2 • • • • Ferry • • • • 5
When to Split a Two-Way Road Whereas best map editing practices suggests undivided roads unless any of the requirements/conditions for a divided road exist, ALL of the divided road requirements/conditions listed below must exist before a road will be divided in the Southeast. Additionally, consult with one of the state managers or the SE Regional Coordinator prior to splitting a road. All other guidance from best map editing practices apply and should be referenced while considering road segments for dividing or undividing.
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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. Map Editor Functional Classification for other states. Alabama Functional Classification (very dated) Alabama Mapping Resources Check for an important note about Alabama Code of laws. Florida Florida Mapping Resources Click the header for relevant information for mapping in Florida. Every county in Florida has online geographic resources from either the Property Appraiser's office and/or Geographical Information Systems (GIS) department. Editors should always reference these local official sources for road naming. Florida Functional Classification Click the header for resources on functional classification. Unsigned Florida SR#'s along US and Interstate Highways Click the header for more information about Unsigned FL SR#'s along US and Interstate Highways How to determine the City Field in Florida Click the header for instructions for the City Fields on segments and places in Florida. Georgia See the Georgia Mapping Resources page for relevant mapping resources for local and state level information. Update Requests & Comments
The southeast 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
Boots on the ground We need local boots on the ground to check things. Please add requests for locals to go and scout things in person, as in on the road. Some examples when this would be used include to check and see if: The street view is accurate, A road is really closed, A turn really allowed/prohibited, etc. A Place Exists, is Closed Permenantly, or Remodeling To make a new request, or respond to an existing request, please use this form.
View sheet as full Webpage
Places (formerly Landmarks)
The southeast follows the national Places guidance. The following exceptions to the national guidance are NOT mapped: interchanges/junctions water of any kind islands beaches toll plazas Any exceptions to this rule will be locked to 5 or above. There are some rivers mapped as requested by Waze staff, but this is not the standard. Exceptions to a point or area that ARE mapped in the southeast: Post Office is an area Car Dealership is always a point
Place Lock Standards Places should be locked to the below standards, only after all data fields have been filled. At a minimum at least ensure that Category, Name and Address (street and house number), and Brand (for gas stations) have information. Note for gas stations - DO NOT USE THE BRAND "UNBRANDED". If it is a no brand gas station, just leave the brand field blank. Lock at rank 5: hospitals, universities, schools, park and ride lots, arenas, airports. Lock at 3: any other place that has at least a correct category, correct name, and correct address with house number. If you cannot lock high enough because of rank, lock as high as you can, and post in the USA Unlock Forum to get help from a higher-ranked editor to lock properly. Place Harmonization Phone Numbers Place's should follow one of the following telephone number formats: (XXX) XXX-XXXX or XXX-XXX-XXXX Webpages Except for public schools (who that make extensive efforts to keep their naming schemes), please use the simplest url that will get you to a chain's homepage, do not link directly to the chains location specific page. Examples are in the sheet below. Note the lack of http://www for each one. DNS servers are now configured to not need them to resolve URL's. Be sure to check that the url works before using it in WME. Chain Harmonization Sheet The name spellings in the following sheet have been standardized for chains or franchises so that Wazers will receive consistent results when searching in the client. Please use them when you edit one of these chain or franchise businesses. Websites and descriptions have also been included for many of them. If you have any thoughts on a effective and short description for a location please let us know. Missing Chains If you don't find the business you're looking for, please use this form to submit the missing information and PM T0cableguy and replace "Place" with the one you added.
View this list full-screen in Google Sheets Category Sheet Some places do not have a clear place category, so we have provided this list for ones we get regular questions about. If you do not see something you think should be on this list please use this form to submit the missing information and PM T0cableguy that you have requested more information.
View this list full-screen in Google Sheets
Major construction projects
See the states' Department of Transporation (DOT) web sites for a list of long term road closures and changes to traffic flow that impact the Waze Map. Alabama DOT Florida DOT Georgia DOT Special Roads
Divided Highways Carpool, HOV, Transit lanes Roundabouts/Traffic Circles Cul-de-sac's Parking Lot Roads Toll Roads Alleys These are mapped as a Parking Lot road only if the alley leads to more than one address (businesses or residences) or is a named street. Otherwise, alleys are not mapped. 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. Waze is a driving app, not a pedestrian, bicycle, or flying app. 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. Segment & Turn Restrictions
U-Turns U-turns in the Southeast are to be enabled when they are on Divided roads, and legal. Most locations that U-Turns are absolutely not allowed will have a sign posted which may be visible in Streetview. U-Turns on roads without medians should not be enabled. The laws regarding U-Turns in the Southeast Region are found in each State's Mapping Resources page. Please keep them in mind when determining a legal U-Turn. Closed Roads Temporary Road Closures are the preferred method for road closures in the Southeast. Please contact a State Manager or higher for any of the closure types listed below. They will be happy to help with these. Mega Events Temporary Road Closures Scheduled restrictions Disconnect road segments - In some cases it may be best to completely disconnect road segments. Please consult your Area Manager or higher for advice before disconnecting a segment.
For Mega Events we need advance notice so they will appear in the app and we can get the proper closure sheet for the event. There are four methods to control traffic flow: Please refer to the Partial Restrictions wiki for further guidance. Cameras
See How to Identify Cameras. Red light cameras Currently, the only way to add cameras to the editor are from the app. When placing a camera in the app, drop a general error with "RLC W" where W = the direction the camera is facing. This will allow other editors to know which way the camera is facing when they go to approve it in the editor. If you do find a camera that needs to be added please let a high ranking editor know so it can be locked as high as possible. DO NOT USE PHOTOENFORCED AS A REFERENCE FOR CAMERA LOCATIONS. This website is inaccurate! Only use official websites, or (of course) your own eyes. There is no need to purge the map of invalid and non-approved red light cameras. They drop off the map no more than 14 days from their report. Known Camera Locations Duval County Red Light Cameras Orange County Red Light Cameras Tallahasse Red Light Cameras Speed Cameras Speed cameras that issue tickets are not located in AL, FL, or GA. Do not map this type of camera. Only red light cameras are used in all three states. Other Camera Types These are cameras or signs that either provide driver feedback or are used for traffic control. These devices CAN NOT issue tickets and are not mapped. Forums
Forum Etiquette Waze Forums (USA) Key Southeast Region Editors
Username Leadership Role Area of Responsibility Profile Rank 6 driving79 Local Champ Regional Coordinator Profile txemt Local Champ -- Profile spankdog Local Champ -- Profile banished Global Champ -- Profile Rank 5 bruceqc State Manager AL Profile heyblue State Manager AL Profile ggrane State Manager Regional Manager, Focus Area: FL - South Profile jakflash State Manager, Mentor Regional Manager, Focus Area: FL - North Profile t0cableguy State Manager, Mentor Regional Manager, Focus Area: FL - Central Profile spedracr State Manager GA Profile keepfsusafe State Manager, Mentor Regional Manager, Special Projects & Events Profile huckd Area Manager GA Profile Rank 4 jbrianj Area Manager AL - Gulf Coast FL - Western Panhandle Profile jlspence99 Area Manager AL - Southwest Profile n4dog Area Manager AL - Southeast FL - Central Panhandle GA - Southwest Profile red-nax Area Manager AL - Southeast GA - Southwest Profile young7up Area Manager AL - North Profile subbiebrz Area Manager AL - East Profile bmtg Area Manager, Mentor FL - Central Profile mrbyte_ontheroad Area Manager FL - East Central Profile jroman7 Area Manager GA - Metro Atlanta Profile xkspeed Area Manager GA - North Central Profile Rank 3 wambuli Area Manager FL - Northeast GA - Southeast Profile ardan74 Area Manager FL - Southwest (Ft Myers) Profile crew_rest Area Manager FL - Southwest (Bradenton / Sarasota) Profile dashks Area Manager FL - Southwest (Bradenton / Sarasota) Profile deruguy Area Manager FL - Pensacola Profile douglasr007 Area Manager FL - Southwest (Bradenton / Sarasota / Venice / Englewood) Profile heladocaliente Area Manager FL - North Central Profile itzwolf Area Manager FL - Northeast GA - East Profile fjsawicki Area Manager FL - West Central Profile aestewa Area Manager GA - North Profile jtbernier Area Manager GA - N. Fulton / S. Forsyth Profile outdoorliving Area Manager GA - Northwest Profile ramblinwreck_81 Area Manager GA - Metro Atlanta Profile Rank 2 lilsnot Area Manager FL - Pasco County (Crystal Springs) Profile amynm Area Manager GA - Mid (Griffin / Barnesville / Pike county) Profile deepsouthdiver Area Manager GA - Savannah Profile sgtm14 Area Manager GA - SW Rural Augusta Profile swg_moto Area Manager GA - Thomasville Profile [show] v · d · e USA Discipline
Waze has been designed to be an open community with various levels of editors. Rank 5 and 6 editors are senior editors. They are here to help you and are to be respected at all times. Instructions from senior editors are to be followed, unless it conflicts with this page. If you have any questions or issues, please feel free to PM one of the rank 6s or 5s in the list (if you're having a problem with one, please PM the regional coordinators). We will try to handle the issue as quickly and peacefully as possible. It is not possible to list every occurrence of problems which can occur in the editor, but the following are some examples of what has happened in the past: Deleting and redrawing roads Closing UR's without following this flowchart Creating mass amounts of parking lot roads Creating roads on top of already existing roads Disrespect to higher ranking editors Not cleaning up your own mess Not responding to private messages Willful damage to the map Editing just to clear geometry nodes will result in an instant blocking of your editing rights Everyone is allowed one free pass, but disciplinary actions after the first occurrence for the above may include: Formal mentoring Lowering of rank Temporary suspension of editing rights Permanent suspension of editing rights