Information related to Landmarks changeover to Places:
This page is currently undergoing modifications. The information and guidance here is currently to be used for reference. The new Places article should primarily be utilized when mapping landmarks, not this page. |
Waze landmarks serve to orient drivers and to establish app-searchable points-of-interest (POI) for situations where the primary POI search engines may not find the desired location. Despite these helpful attributes, landmarks are easily overused. Unnecessary landmarks clutter maps and stymie drivers with redundant, incomplete, and sometimes contradictory POI results. Waze offers a plethora of landmark types as a byproduct of the original base-map import, but most of these hinder rather than help Waze users and are best avoided.
In general, if a location is not distinctive and significant enough to orient drivers, and is already searchable using the primary POI search engines, it should not be landmarked in Waze. Three common exceptions are gas stations, which receive special handling; government or transit-oriented destinations for the general public, such as parks and airports; and school or university campuses, whether public or private.
The Waze editing community in the US has agreed that, aside from gas stations, ordinary businesses are never to be landmarked. However consensus is less firm regarding landmarking of large private country clubs, golf courses and retreat centers with extensive, groomed and conspicuous open space. Such facilities, though private, may be sufficiently distinctive and significant in a given area that to leave them unmapped would be a disservice to Waze users. Regardless, the criteria of either orienting drivers or not otherwise findable with a primary POI search engine apply to landmarking private as well as public locations.
Below is the list of Landmark Types provided by WME. This list is to facilitate a discussion in the forums about what Landmarks should and should not be included in the map The discussion is located at http://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=276&t=26005 Eventually we hope for this to become the guide for which landmarks get mapped & how they get mapped.
Minimum landmark size
Transportation
Gas Station
Toll booth
Terminal
Airport
Train station
Bus Station / Bus Terminal
Sea Port
Parking Lot
- The US guidance on the Parking Lot landmark has been rewritten as global guidance on the Parking Lot Area Place. The new guidance incorporates all critical elements of the original text and adds much necessary detail. To prevent confusion the original text has been removed from this page.
Junction/Interchange
Bridge
Tunnel
Subway station
Ferry lane
- See the article on Ferries for information on how to add a ferry route.