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Carpool lanes, High-occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, and Transit lanes are road lanes reserved for vehicles meeting special requirements, either carrying at least a specific number of passengers more than the driver, or being a specific vehicle type. The number of required passengers in the vehicle can vary depending on the specific road.
Carpool lanes, High-occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, and Transit lanes are road lanes reserved for vehicles meeting special requirements, such as carrying a minimum number of occupants or being a specific type of vehicle. These requirements may even vary depending on the specific road and time of day.


Although currently Waze does not support the requirements of routing over these types of lanes, there are plans to add support for them in the future.
Although currently Waze does not support the requirements of routing over these types of lanes, there are plans to add support for them in the future.
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{{Mbox|text=These guidelines have been updated {{as of|October 2014}} to prepare for the upcoming HOV features. The old method was to map these lanes as Parking Lot Roads. This new method below should be used when mapping new lanes. There is no rush to redo existing lanes to make them compliant; do so only if you are working on them anyway, or are doing a general refresh in the area.}}
{{Mbox|text=These guidelines have been written based on the traffic laws governing the Houston Metro's HOV and HOT lanes.  
While they may be of interest elsewhere no attempt has been made to provide a general purpose solution.}}


As an interim measure, these lanes should be added to the map as separate roads, with the road type set the same as the non-HOV lanes. However '''only''' the entrance ramps to these lanes should be set with the appropriate [[Partial restrictions|partial segment restrictions]]. The actual lanes themselves should not have any restrictions set on them, except for [[#Reversible lanes|reversible lanes]], or other restrictions which are in effect at all times on [[#Multi-use lanes|multi-use lanes]] as discussed below. This means that if you are not currently in one of these lanes the routing will avoid it, but if you choose to get into the lane, the routing will work correctly. Being that only the entrance to the lane is restricted, once you are already in the lane there will be no penalty for staying there, and you will be routed the fastest and most appropriate way to your destination. The caveat will be for multi-use lanes which will have restrictions set to force everyone who does not meet the lanes use criteria (at this time that will be everyone, since the client and routing server can only handle routes for private vehicles) out of the lanes before the enforcement period begins.
In Houston, Houston Metro has described two different types of high occupancy lanes.  There is a Vehicle (HOV) lane which is subjected to restrictions based on time and type of vehicle with number of occupants being a type of vehicle. They also have Toll (HOT) lanes which are time restricted toll roads. What can make the restrictions particularly challenging is that a single lane will often be both a HOV and HOT lane.  [http://www.ridemetro.org/Pages/HOVandHOTLanes.aspx Metro] provides a general description of high occupancy lanes which includes links to the individual roadways where the time based restrictions are described.
{{Mbox|text={{as of|October 2014}} the client and routing server are still unable to differentiate different vehicle types. Therefore all vehicles using Waze are treated as ''Private Vehicles'', and any HOV restrictions will be applied to all vehicles. (This is the reason why the restrictions should ONLY be set for the on ramps, and not the entire length of the lanes on the segments themselves.)}}
'''This should only be applied to dedicated lanes that have exit and entry points.'''


Any time you are setting a road to allow ''HOV - 2'', it must also be set to allow ''HOV - 3''.
Unique factors that have been considered are
# The times on the Metro site specify when it is legal to enter the lane rather than when a wazer must exit the lane.
# HOT lanes are electronic toll roads.  HOV lanes are not toll roads.
# The HOT lane's toll is a fixed amount regardless of how far you drive in the lane.


''In the USA'' motorcycles are allowed to use HOV lanes, therefore when setting partial restrictions to only allow ''HOV - 2'' (''HOV -3''), ''Motorcycles'' should also be allowed (unchecked). Some jurisdictions also ''Taxis'' and ''Buses'' to use the HOV lanes. These should be set accordingly in those jurisdictions.
There was a time when the entire high occupancy lane in waze was restricted to all traffic from 11 AM to 1 PM (the transition window between the end of morning inbound traffic and the start of afternoon outbound traffic).  This inadvertently resulted in navigation errors as a vehicle entering the lane at 10:59 AM would be directed to leave the lane at the first opportunity rather than following the best route to the wazer's destination. The solution to this class of issues is to place the time restrictions on the entrances to the high occupancy lanes. Once in the lane there should be no timed based restrictions.


Toll is an attribute applied to a road segment; it can not be turned off and on.  Therefore, every high occupancy lane that is both a HOV lane and a HOT lane must have two entrance segments.  One tolled for the HOT lane and the other free for the HOV lane. That way, a HOV-2/HOV-3 vehicle may still be directed to use the HOV even though its wazers has instructed waze to avoid toll roads.


There are special configurations needed for reversible, and multi-use lanes which change use criteria or direction at different times of the day.
Waze assumes that the tolls paid are proportional to the distance driven yet HOT lanes have fixed tolls.  The solution is to keep the length of the tolled segment short so that variations in length between one entrance and the next are negligible in comparison to the distance between the entrances.  There should be no toll on exiting so that every possible route over the HOT lane encounters only one tolled segment.  The concern here is that tolled segments incur a small penalty to give preference to non-tolled roads.


===Multi-use lanes===
As of this time, the waze app does not provide the wazer with the opportunity to specify their vehicle type.  Testing has shown that, until that changes, the routing servers presume that all vehicles are '''Private Vehicles'''.


Lanes which only have the HOV restrictions in place for certain hours, and open to regular vehicles during other hours, need to have the restrictions on the entrance ramps set to only allow the specific vehicles for that road during the enforcement times, '''AND''' that same restriction must be set to only be in effect during the enforcement time.
Any time you are setting a road to allow ''HOV - 2'', it must also be set to allow ''HOV - 3''.


The enforcement time should be expanded to start 15 minutes earlier, to account for drivers who experience traffic along their route prior, and prevent them from accidentally being routed onto the HOV lanes after the enforcement period begins.
''In Houston car pools, van pools, and ''motorcycles are allowed to use HOV lanes, therefore when setting partial restrictions to allow ''HOV-2'' (''HOV-3''), 'Motorcycles' and Buses should also be allowed (unchecked).  
 
These lanes will also require a similar restriction set on {{U|ALL}} the exit ramps, also with the enforcement period expanded to begin 15 minutes early. This will ensure that vehicles which do not meet the roads HOV criteria, but have been routed into these lanes prior to the enforcement period, will be routed out of these lanes before the enforcement begins. It is imperative that {{u|every exit ramp}} has these restrictions in place, otherwise instead of these vehicles being routed out of the lanes when the enforcement begins, they will all be funneled and routed to the one exit ramp which does not have these restrictions.
 
If when these lanes are open to the public (when the HOV restrictions are not in effect), they are still restricted to certain vehicle types (i.e. ''No Trucks''), then that should be set as a separate restriction on the actual lanes to be in effect at all times.


===Multi-use lanes===


===Reversible lanes===
Most HOV/HOT lanes are closed outside of specific hours while a few are open to all vehicles outside of the specific HOV/HOT times.  In the first case, restrictions can most easily be determined by allowing the restrictions to overlap.  For example, a nightly restriction may be applied to every day of the week even though it overlaps with a second all-day weekend restriction.


These lanes should be set with separate time based partial restrictions restricting travel in each direction for the appropriate hours.
Lanes which are open to all vehicles outside of the HOV restrictions need to have the HOV vehicle type restrictions on the entrance ramps set to the specific times when the HOV restrictions are being enforced.  No other restrictions should be added as the road is unrestricted at all other times.
 
If the hours are adjacent to each other, meaning that there is no buffer time between the two travel direction of the lanes, then we will have to add a buffer time into to Waze for safety. In that case expand the restriction to start 15 minutes earlier so there is at least a 15 minute window when there travel is restricted in both directions between the open periods.
 
<span style="color:red">Some jurisdictions have adopted the position that any vehicle which has legally entered one of these lanes may proceed to their intended exit regardless of when the lane officially closes.  For these lanes, the restrictions must be placed on each of the entrace ramps leaving the lane itself and the exit ramps unrestricted. To do otherwise, results in drivers being instructed to exit the lane for no obvious reason.</span>


===Example configurations===
===Example configurations===


A multi-use lane which is open to the all vehicles during off-peak hours has to be set as a separate restriction from each of the enforcement periods.
A multi-use lane which is open to the all vehicles during off-peak hours has a separate restriction for each of the enforcement periods.


[[File:HOV Multi-use multiple times.png]]
[[File:HOV Multi-use multiple times.png]]


Each of those restrictions must be set to the criteria restricted to only HOV - 2, HOV- 3, Motorcycles or Buses on weekdays during the hours of 6-10 am, and 3-8 pm.
Each of these restrictions must be set to permit only HOV-2, HOV-3, Motorcycles and  Buses on weekdays during the hours of 6-10 am, and 3-8 pm.


[[File:HOV Multi-use.png]]
[[File:HOV Multi-use.png]]


==<span style="color:red">Lessons Learned</span>==
==Lessons Learned==


The following concepts were developed after reviewing the HOV/HOT lane restrictions in the Houston area.
The following concepts were developed after reviewing the HOV/HOT lane restrictions in the Houston area.


===<span style="color:red">Keep each restriction simple</span>===
===Keep each restriction simple===
It appears that the transportation departments regulating HOV/HOT lanes tend to describe them in terms of when they are available rather than the restrictions that WME uses.  The first tendency is to try to invert everything into one elegant set of restrictions only to find, after several minutes, that you've made no progress at all.  Try to avoid having restrictions that specify specific days, times, and vehicle types as they'll be very hard to the next editor to verify.  Instead, try to use restrictions that are constrained by only one attribute (days, times, or types).
The Houston METRO regulations describe high occupancy lanes in terms of when they are available rather than when they are unavailable (i.e. restrictions) as specified by WME.  When inverting the METRO regulations to restrictions approach the task one restriction at a time.  If the lane is closed on weekends, that's a restriction.  If it is closed to certain classes of vehicles then that's another restriction.  Try to avoid having restrictions that specify multiple attributes of days, times, and vehicle types, as they'll be very hard for the next editor to verify.  Instead, try to use restrictions that are constrained by only one attribute (days, times, or types).


For example, given an HOV lane that is open from 0500 to 1100 on weekdays to HOV-2 and Motorcycles.  The restrictions can be described like this:
For example, given an HOV lane that is open from 0500 to 1100 on weekdays to HOV-2 and Motorcycles.  The restrictions can be described like this:


# An <u>all</u> day restriction for <u>all</u> vehicle types on Saturday and Sunday.
# An <u>all</u> day restriction for <u>all</u> vehicle types on Saturday and Sunday.
# An <u>all</u> day, <u>all</u> week, restriction blocking all vehicle types except HOV-2 and Motorcycles.
# An <u>all</u> day, <u>all</u> week, restriction blocking all vehicle types except HOV-2, HOV-3, and Motorcycles.
#: We're using an all week restriction here both to keep it simple and to prevent a dependency on the first restriction.
#: We're using an all week restriction here both to keep it simple and to prevent a dependency on the first restriction.
# A weekday restriction for <u>all</u> vehicle types from 0000 to 0459.
# A weekday restriction for <u>all</u> vehicle types from 1100 to 0500.
# A weekday restriction for <u>all</u> vehicle types from 1100 to 2359.
#: The restriction times should match then the lane opens, and closes, as drivers have been observed curb-side parking until it is legal to enter the lane.
 
===<span style="color:red">Avoid use of restrictions spanning midnight</span>===
A timed restriction whose stop time is earlier in the day than its start time will begin on one day and continue to the stop time on the next day.  One of the common issues with this type of restriction is that it would be applied to the weekdays rather than all days.  For example, 1300 to 0500 Monday through Friday. While the restriction obviously appeared correct to many editors, waze interpreted it as<br>
[[File:ReversedStartStop.jpg]]
Viewed this way, its easy to see that starting the restriction on Monday results in 0000 through 0500 being left unrestricted while that time is closed on the other days.
 
The recommendation is to avoid using this feature as the next editor may not be as familiar with its use.  Instead, simply create both an early (0000 to 0500) and a late (1300 to 2359) restriction.


===<span style="color:red">Provide specific comments on each restriction</span>===
===Take care when using restrictions spanning midnight===
HOV lanes will usually be locked at a high rank to prevent accidental damage to the map.  As a result, all lower ranked editors are limited to the first popup that appears when you hover over a restricted segment.  That is, something like this:<br>
A timed restriction whose stop time is earlier in the day than its start time will begin on one day and continue to the stop time on the next day.  If this restriction is then applied to a range of days, for example Monday through Friday, the actual restrictions may not be what was intended.  For example, a restriction on 1300 to 0500 Monday through Friday is actually<br>
[[File:SparseCommentsOnRestrictions.jpg]]
[[File:ReversedStartStop.jpg]]<br>
<br>Contract those restrictions with the following<br>
Viewed this way, its easy to see that the editor failed to restriction early Monday morning (0000 to 0500) . There's also a restriction on Saturday morning which might not be appropriate for that day.
[[File:DetailedCommentsOnRestrictions.jpg]]


===<span style="color:red">Part-time tolls or HOV/HOT lanes</span>===
It is possible to apply this type of restriction to weekdays by setting the range to Sunday through Friday if the unintended restrictions to late Sunday and early Saturday are also valid.
One of the interesting problems encountered when a single lane is used as both a HOV (restricted by vehicle types and times) lane and as a HOT (part-time toll) lane is that the toll status is an attribute of the road.  It can't be enabled, or disable, at arbitrary times.  Even if that were to work, enabling toll on a segment meant to be used by HOV traffic would cause routing issues for HOV-2 vehicle with toll avoidance enabled.  What is necessary is to split the road for a short distance so that one of the parallel roads can be restricted per the HOV rules while the other road is restricted per the toll rules.


To avoid keep left/right instructions when the driver reaches the "split" road, the segments must overlap from each direction.
===Part-time tolls or HOV/HOT lanes===
One of the interesting problems encountered when a single lane is used as both a HOV (restricted by vehicle types and times) lane and as a HOT (part-time toll) lane is that the toll status is an attribute of the road.  It can't be enabled, or disable, at arbitrary times.  What is necessary is to split the road for a short distance so that one of the parallel roads can be restricted per the HOV rules while the other road is restricted per the HOT rules.


To avoid keep left/right instructions when the driver reaches the "split" road, the segments must overlap at their common junctions as shown in this deconstruction.


==Pointers for a complete solution==
[[File: HovHotLaneConstruction.jpg]]
A complete solution needs to consider the following factors:
* The driver would need to tell the Waze client app how many passengers are present in the car, or what vehicle type they are in for that trip. Waze would only offer routes over carpool lanes when they meet the criteria to be eligible
* In some places, Electric or Plug-in Hybrid vehicles may also use HOV lanes, so this local situation must be known and the driver should be asked if the vehicle is allowed in HOV lanes for reasons other than number of passengers.
* As car pool lanes are often adjacent to normal roads, GPS tracking is not always sufficient to differentiate between the two. For accurate road speeds Waze needs to assume you are using the car pool lane when you have passengers (and/or based on your speed). However if the lanes are separated even by a few meters, the server can usually tell the difference and the speed to the correct lanes, even if the client displays you as being on the wrong lane.
* HOV lanes are being merged with Toll lanes ([[Best_map_editing_practice#High_Occupancy_Toll_.28HOT.29_Roads.2FLanes_.28USA.29|HOT lanes]]) and the user needs to be able to select if they want to allow toll roads. The map needs the ability to track multiple lane restrictions (HOV and/or Toll) for the same road rather than defining the road as either an HOV or a Toll lane.
<!-- this is now handled by partial restrictions * A new road type of "carpool lane" would be added with an entry for how many passengers and/or vehicle type (zero/low-emmission, mororcycle, etc) are required to use it
* The ability to change the direction of the car pool lane automatically based on time of day and day of week. This is also necessary for other roads
* The ability to set the minimum passenger count to zero (meaning the road is open to all drivers) based on time of day and day of week -->


{{ReturnTo | Editing manual | the editing manual}}
Reversible ramps that switch between being entrances and exits should have their HOT segment set to one-way entrance while the HOV segment should be two-way with the HOV restrictions applied to the entrance direction.  That way we have two restricted entrance ramps and one unrestricted exit ramp.

Latest revision as of 21:43, 22 March 2017


Carpool lanes, High-occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, and Transit lanes are road lanes reserved for vehicles meeting special requirements, such as carrying a minimum number of occupants or being a specific type of vehicle. These requirements may even vary depending on the specific road and time of day.

Although currently Waze does not support the requirements of routing over these types of lanes, there are plans to add support for them in the future.

Supporting these lanes is a priority for Waze, and they are aware of the problems caused by such lanes.


Configuration and setting restrictions

 These guidelines have been written based on the traffic laws governing the Houston Metro's HOV and HOT lanes. While they may be of interest elsewhere no attempt has been made to provide a general purpose solution.

In Houston, Houston Metro has described two different types of high occupancy lanes. There is a Vehicle (HOV) lane which is subjected to restrictions based on time and type of vehicle with number of occupants being a type of vehicle. They also have Toll (HOT) lanes which are time restricted toll roads. What can make the restrictions particularly challenging is that a single lane will often be both a HOV and HOT lane. Metro provides a general description of high occupancy lanes which includes links to the individual roadways where the time based restrictions are described.

Unique factors that have been considered are

  1. The times on the Metro site specify when it is legal to enter the lane rather than when a wazer must exit the lane.
  2. HOT lanes are electronic toll roads. HOV lanes are not toll roads.
  3. The HOT lane's toll is a fixed amount regardless of how far you drive in the lane.

There was a time when the entire high occupancy lane in waze was restricted to all traffic from 11 AM to 1 PM (the transition window between the end of morning inbound traffic and the start of afternoon outbound traffic). This inadvertently resulted in navigation errors as a vehicle entering the lane at 10:59 AM would be directed to leave the lane at the first opportunity rather than following the best route to the wazer's destination. The solution to this class of issues is to place the time restrictions on the entrances to the high occupancy lanes. Once in the lane there should be no timed based restrictions.

Toll is an attribute applied to a road segment; it can not be turned off and on. Therefore, every high occupancy lane that is both a HOV lane and a HOT lane must have two entrance segments. One tolled for the HOT lane and the other free for the HOV lane. That way, a HOV-2/HOV-3 vehicle may still be directed to use the HOV even though its wazers has instructed waze to avoid toll roads.

Waze assumes that the tolls paid are proportional to the distance driven yet HOT lanes have fixed tolls. The solution is to keep the length of the tolled segment short so that variations in length between one entrance and the next are negligible in comparison to the distance between the entrances. There should be no toll on exiting so that every possible route over the HOT lane encounters only one tolled segment. The concern here is that tolled segments incur a small penalty to give preference to non-tolled roads.

As of this time, the waze app does not provide the wazer with the opportunity to specify their vehicle type. Testing has shown that, until that changes, the routing servers presume that all vehicles are Private Vehicles.

Any time you are setting a road to allow HOV - 2, it must also be set to allow HOV - 3.

In Houston car pools, van pools, and motorcycles are allowed to use HOV lanes, therefore when setting partial restrictions to allow HOV-2 (HOV-3), 'Motorcycles' and Buses should also be allowed (unchecked).

Multi-use lanes

Most HOV/HOT lanes are closed outside of specific hours while a few are open to all vehicles outside of the specific HOV/HOT times. In the first case, restrictions can most easily be determined by allowing the restrictions to overlap. For example, a nightly restriction may be applied to every day of the week even though it overlaps with a second all-day weekend restriction.

Lanes which are open to all vehicles outside of the HOV restrictions need to have the HOV vehicle type restrictions on the entrance ramps set to the specific times when the HOV restrictions are being enforced. No other restrictions should be added as the road is unrestricted at all other times.

Example configurations

A multi-use lane which is open to the all vehicles during off-peak hours has a separate restriction for each of the enforcement periods.

Each of these restrictions must be set to permit only HOV-2, HOV-3, Motorcycles and Buses on weekdays during the hours of 6-10 am, and 3-8 pm.

Lessons Learned

The following concepts were developed after reviewing the HOV/HOT lane restrictions in the Houston area.

Keep each restriction simple

The Houston METRO regulations describe high occupancy lanes in terms of when they are available rather than when they are unavailable (i.e. restrictions) as specified by WME. When inverting the METRO regulations to restrictions approach the task one restriction at a time. If the lane is closed on weekends, that's a restriction. If it is closed to certain classes of vehicles then that's another restriction. Try to avoid having restrictions that specify multiple attributes of days, times, and vehicle types, as they'll be very hard for the next editor to verify. Instead, try to use restrictions that are constrained by only one attribute (days, times, or types).

For example, given an HOV lane that is open from 0500 to 1100 on weekdays to HOV-2 and Motorcycles. The restrictions can be described like this:

  1. An all day restriction for all vehicle types on Saturday and Sunday.
  2. An all day, all week, restriction blocking all vehicle types except HOV-2, HOV-3, and Motorcycles.
    We're using an all week restriction here both to keep it simple and to prevent a dependency on the first restriction.
  3. A weekday restriction for all vehicle types from 1100 to 0500.
    The restriction times should match then the lane opens, and closes, as drivers have been observed curb-side parking until it is legal to enter the lane.

Take care when using restrictions spanning midnight

A timed restriction whose stop time is earlier in the day than its start time will begin on one day and continue to the stop time on the next day. If this restriction is then applied to a range of days, for example Monday through Friday, the actual restrictions may not be what was intended. For example, a restriction on 1300 to 0500 Monday through Friday is actually

Viewed this way, its easy to see that the editor failed to restriction early Monday morning (0000 to 0500) . There's also a restriction on Saturday morning which might not be appropriate for that day.

It is possible to apply this type of restriction to weekdays by setting the range to Sunday through Friday if the unintended restrictions to late Sunday and early Saturday are also valid.

Part-time tolls or HOV/HOT lanes

One of the interesting problems encountered when a single lane is used as both a HOV (restricted by vehicle types and times) lane and as a HOT (part-time toll) lane is that the toll status is an attribute of the road. It can't be enabled, or disable, at arbitrary times. What is necessary is to split the road for a short distance so that one of the parallel roads can be restricted per the HOV rules while the other road is restricted per the HOT rules.

To avoid keep left/right instructions when the driver reaches the "split" road, the segments must overlap at their common junctions as shown in this deconstruction.

Reversible ramps that switch between being entrances and exits should have their HOT segment set to one-way entrance while the HOV segment should be two-way with the HOV restrictions applied to the entrance direction. That way we have two restricted entrance ramps and one unrestricted exit ramp.

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