Abbreviations and acronyms/rewrite

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This page covers the abbreviations and acronyms used in naming roads in Waze. By following these guidelines the Text-to-speech (TTS) feature will work at its optimum level. If you have questions about these instructions, see the further reading at the bottom of this page.

Other abbreviations

Prefixes, directional abbreviations and other (non-suffix) abbreviations should not be used, except for state/ territory abbreviations & country abbreviations; under ISO 3166-1 alpha-3.

1. Prefix abbreviations include: Mount (Mt.), and Saint (St.) Note: Mount (Mt.) is not the same as Mountain (Mtn.).

• Although they are common, can cause issues as variation and overlap exists between naming, usage, and prefix standards (I.e. What words to, and how to, abbreviate).
• Therefore a lake named "Lake Clair" would not be abbreviated, while if its documented name was "Clair Lake" it would be.

2. Directional abbreviations include: East (E), South West (SW), Central (CN), Upper (UP), and Lower (LR).

• In addition to not being abbreviated, directions should only be included when they are a part of the documented name, and not a suffix or prefix added at a later stage to describe location or orientation/ direction.

3. Other abbreviations include: Island (Is.), Quay (Qy), Reserve (Res) and Tunnel (Tunl).

• These are acceptable to be used when they are a suffix, but not acceptable when they are place names.
• Therefore "King-Tunnel Road" should have tunnel spelt in full, as it refers to a tunnel. While "Queen Tunnel-Road" could have tunnel abbreviated, as tunnel refers to the type of roadway, and is a part of the suffix.
• Likewise an Island named "Island Island" would be abbreviated to Island Is.

4. The exception to the above is abbreviations for states and or territories; and countries with their three character abbreviation. These contain correct punctuation. Other regions do not fall under this category.

• For example: California would be abbreviated to C.A. not CA and Victoria to VIC.
• Country abbreviations are done under "ISO 3166-1 alpha-3". Further information can be found on Wikipedia. (ISO 3166:)
• Other regions include that of Suburbs, Districts, Localities, Shires and special purpose areas. (I.e. Indigenous, Military and Airport areas.)

Standard suffix abbreviations

Waze convention is to use suffix abbreviations in street names. ("Main Rd" instead of "Main Road").

Notes:

1. Only abbreviate suffixes.

• "The Avenue", "The Green ", and etc. should not be abbreviated.
• "Circuit Avenue Road" would be abbreviated to Circuit Avenue Rd and not "Cct Ave Rd"
• A road named "Service way" should not be abbreviated, while "Pipeline Service way" should be.

2. Suffix abbreviations do not contain any punctuation, such as "." (Full-stops) or "-" (Hyphens).

3. In the event that the original suffix is a plural (I.e contains a "s" at the end) and only its singular form is present as an abbreviation, simply add an "s" to the end of the abbreviation.

Legend:

1. TTS = Text To Speech for supported countries.

Road Name	Abbreviation	TTS Compatibility
Alley	Aly	Yes
Annex	Anx	Yes
Arcade	Arc	Yes
Avenue	Ave	Yes
Bayoo	Byu	Yes
Beach	Bch	Yes
Bend	Bnd	Yes
Bluff	Blf	Yes
Bottom	Btm	Yes
Boulevard	Blvd	Yes
Branch	Br	Yes
Bridge	Brg	Yes
Broadway	Bdwy	Untested
Brook	Brk	Yes
Brooks	Brks	Yes
Burg	Bg	Incompatible
Burgs	Bgs	Untested
Bypass	Byp	Yes
Camp	Cp	Yes
Canyon	Cyn	Yes
Cape	Cpe	Untested
Causeway	Cswy	Yes
Center	Ctr	Yes
Centers	Ctrs	Untested
Circle	Cir	Yes
Circles	Cirs	Untested
Cliff	Clf	Untested
Cliffs	Clfs	Untested
Close	Cl	Yes
Club	Clb	Yes
Common	Cmn	Untested
Corner	Cor	Untested
Corners	Cors	Untested
Course	Crse	Yes
Court	Ct	Yes
Courts	Cts	Untested
Cove	Cv	Incompatible
Coves	Cvs	Untested
Creek	Crk	Untested
Crescent	Cres	Yes
Crest	Crst	Yes
Crossing	Xing	Yes
Crossroad	Xrd	Yes
Curve	Curv	Yes
Dale	Dl	Yes
Dam	Dam	Yes
Divide	Dv	Incompatible
Drive	Dr	Yes
Drives	Drs	Untested
Estate	Est	Untested
Estates	Ests	Untested
Expressway	Expy	Yes
Extension	Ext	Yes
Extensions	Exts	Untested
Fall	Fall	Untested
Falls	Fls	Yes
Ferry	Fry	Untested
Field	Fld	Untested
Fields	Flds	Untested
Flat	Flt	Yes
Flats	Flts	Untested
Ford	Frd	Untested
Fords	Frds	Untested
Forest	Frst	Untested
Forge	Frg	Untested
Forges	Frgs	Untested
Fork	Frk	Untested
Forks	Frks	Untested
Fort	Ft	Yes
Freeway	Fwy	Yes
Garden	Gdn	Yes
Gardens	Gdns	Yes
Gateway	Gtwy	Yes
Glen	Gln	Yes
Glens	Glns	Untested
Green	Grn	Yes
Greens	Grns	Untested
Grove	Grv	Yes
Groves	Grvs	Untested
Harbor	Hbr	Yes
Harbors	Hbrs	Untested
Haven	Hvn	Untested
Heights	Hts	Yes
Highway	Hwy	Yes
Hill	Hl	Yes
Hills	Hls	Yes
Hollow	Holw	Yes
Inlet	Inlt	Yes
Island	Is	Untested
Islands	Iss	Untested
Isle	Il	Yes
Junction	Jctn	Yes
Junctions	Jctns	Yes
Key	Key	Yes
Keys	Keys	Yes
Knoll	Knl	Yes
Knolls	Knls	Yes
Lake	Lk	Untested
Lakes	Lks	Untested
Land	Land	Untested
Landing	Lndg	Yes
Lane	Ln	Yes
Light	Lgt	Yes
Lights	Lgts	Yes
Loaf	Lf	Yes
Lock	Lck	Yes
Locks	Lcks	Yes
Lodge	Ldg	Yes
Loop	Loop	Yes
Mall	Mall	Yes
Manor	Mnr	Yes
Manors	Mnrs	Yes
Meadow	Mdw	Yes
Meadows	Mdws	Yes
Mews	Mews	Yes
Mill	Ml	Untested
Mills	Mls	Untested
Mission	Msn	Yes
Motorway	Mtwy	Yes
Mount	Mount	Yes
Mountain	Mtn	Yes
Mountains	Mtns	Yes
Neck	Nck	Yes
Orchard	Orch	Yes
Oval	Oval	Yes
Overpass	Opas	Yes
Parade	Pde	Yes
Park	Pk	Yes
Parks	Pks	Yes
Parkway	Pky	Yes
Parkways	Pkys	Yes
Pass	Pass	Yes
Passage	Psge	Yes
Path	Path	Yes
Pike	Pke	Yes
Pine	Pne	Yes
Pines	Pnes	Yes
Place	Pl	Yes
Plain	Pln	Untested
Plains	Plns	Yes
Plaza	Plz	Yes
Point	Pt	Untested
Points	Pts	Yes
Port	Prt	Yes
Ports	Prts	Yes
Prairie	Prr	Yes
Radial	Radl	Yes
Ramp	Ramp	Yes
Ranch	Rnch	Yes
Rapid	Rpd	Incompatible
Rapids	Rpds	Yes
Rest	Rst	Untested
Ridge	Rdge	Yes
Ridges	Rdgs	Untested
Rise	Rise	Untested
River	Riv	Yes
Road	Rd	Yes
Roads	Rds	Untested
Route	Rte	Yes
Row	Row	Yes
Rue	Rue	Yes
Run	Run	Yes
Shoal	Shl	Yes
Shoals	Shls	Yes
Shore	Shr	Yes
Shores	Shrs	Yes
Skyway	Skwy	Yes
Spring	Spg	Yes
Springs	Spgs	Yes
Spur	Spur	Untested
Square	Sq	Yes
Squares	Sqs	Yes
Station	Sta	Yes
Stream	Strm	Yes
Street	St	Yes
Streets	Sts	Yes
Summit	Smt	Yes
Terrace	Ter	Yes
Throughwawy	Thwy	Yes
Trace	Trce	Yes
Track	Trak	Yes
Trafficway	Trfy	Yes
Trail	Trl	Yes
Tunnel	Tunl	Yes
Turnpike	Tpk	Yes
Underpass	Upas	Yes
Union	Un	Untested
Unions	Uns	Yes
Valley	Vly	Yes
Valleys	Vlys	Yes
Viaduct	Vdct	Yes
View	Vw	Yes
Views	Vws	Yes
Village	Vlg	Yes
Villages	Vlgs	Yes
Ville	Vl	Untested
Vista	Vis	Yes
Walk	Walk	Yes
Wall	Wall	Yes
Waters	Wtr	Untested
Way	Way	Yes
Ways	Ways	Yes
Well	Wl	Yes
Wells	Wls	Yes

Further reading

Forums

If you have further questions on this topic, please refer to the following Waze forum for a "Work in progress" list of abbreviations that are being tested, currently available, and proposed:

Test of Text-to-Speech (TTS) Abbreviations in Waze Clients

Glossary

Refer to the Glossary page for definitions of many terms used in Waze.