Texas

Below you will find information related to using Waze in the State of Texas. All editors in the state are required to have a non usa_username, have their private messaging turned on, and turn live users on in the layers menu. Do not edit in Invisible mode if you are a rank 3 or below. Please pay attention to the chat window in the lower right-hand part the map editor (and introduce yourself if you're a first-time editor). You can find useful info there and ask questions. You can also find useful information at the Texas forum page. You can also join Slack and chat with Texas editors, as well as the state managers (SM) and regional coordinator (RC). Once you receive the Slack invitation, login and join the #texas channel.

We are hosting a Waze Editor Regional Meetup in Dallas on February 28th, 2016, please view our Meetup 2016 wiki page for more details

Cities and towns

There are 6386 Cities and Towns spread across 254 counties in the state. See Cities in Texas for proper naming information.

City names should be everything inside of the city limits. City limits are clearly defined by the green signs. Use of Google Maps to find where a city is highly discouraged.

Roads in Texas

Road naming

Interstates = I-XX

US Highway = US-XX

State Highway = SH-XX

State Loop = State Loop XX

State Spur = Spur XX

State Park Road = Park Rd XX

State Recreation Road = Park Rd XX

Farm/Ranch to Market = FM/RM XX

County Road = CR-XX

Private Road = Private Rd XX

Business Roads

All business roads should be suffixed with BUS:

Business Interstate = I-XX BUS

Business US Highway = US-XX BUS

Road Naming Abbreviations & Suffixes

Interstates throughout the state

• I-2 Rio Grande Valley
• I-10 New Mexico to Louisiana
• I-20 Midland/Odessa to Louisiana
• I-27 Lubbock to Amarillo
• I-30 Fort Worth to Arkansas
• I-35 Mexico to Oklahoma
• I-35E Hillsboro to Denton through Dallas
• I-35W Hillsboro to Denton through Fort Worth
• I-37 Corpus Christi to San Antonio
• I-40 New Mexico to Oklahoma
• I-45 Galveston to Dallas
• I-69 Brownsville/Edinburg/Laredo to Texarkana (will follow US-59)
• I-369 Spur to west side of Texarkana
• I-410 Loop around San Antonio
• I-610 Loop around Houston
• I-635 Spur through DFW Metroplex
• I-820 Loop around Fort Worth 

Special roads

• When not to divide a two-way road
• Divided Roads
• Carpool, HOV, Transit lanes
• Roundabouts and Traffic Circles
• Cul-de-sac's
• Dirt Roads. In Texas ALL roads that are unpaved or gravel are considered dirt roads as this is how GPS Nav users (any brand) expect the "Avoid Dirt Roads" feature to behave. These roads should be deleted when going through farm land, ranch land, or mountainous areas throughout the state, as they are most likely base import roads and not real roads. For roads which are labeled with names and are actually dirt on SATIMG, please keep these and make them dirt roads.
• Parking Lot Roads
• Toll Roads
• Frontage roads Name as "Frontage Rd" unless the corresponding highway has an alternate name. I-635 Frontage roads are labeled as "Lyndon B Johnson Freeway" as that is the local name for I-635.
• Alleys and driveways are NOT MAPPED
• Any road which is a main road for a state park can be a  Primary Street . Other roads can be  Street .

Non-drivable roads

Generally, if a road can't be driven on (e.g. Walking Trail, Pedestrian Boardwalk, Stairway, Ranch road in the middle of nowhere) then it should not be mapped in Waze. This is due to the way the routing engine works, as Waze WILL route users to drive on these "Non-Drivable" road types.

Railroads mapped in Texas should follow the current standard of editing. All crossings should be connected and turn restrictions to/from the RR should be set to the off position.

Miscellaneous

All freeways are set to ground level. If two freeways cross each other, look at the actual intersection to discover the layers of the intersection.

U-turns are labeled as "Turnaround" and set to whatever type identified in FC (if not typed in FC, set to 'Street').

In Texas we have a set minimum standard for locking roads based on segment type. Any road of a certain segment type must be locked at least to the rank (level) in the chart below. Roads may be locked higher for protection and special situations (areas with construction, tricky design, frequent mistakes, imaging inaccuracies, and the like), but should not be locked lower. If you find a road locked to a higher level than its minimum, please leave it locked no lower than that level when you have finished editing.

Texas Minimum Locking Rank Standard

Segment Type	Lock Level
Freeway	5
Ramp	4
Major Highway	4
Minor Highway	3
Primary Street	2
Street	Automatic (1)
Private Road	2
• • • • Ferry • • • •	5
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|	2

Functional Classification of Roads

See Road names/USA and Road types/USA.

Texas is participating in the new functional classification across the entire state. This will be a 100% changeover for the entire state. Some highways may be downgraded, others may be upgraded.

FC cross reference

• An Interstate, Urban Principal Arterial Freeway & Expressway is a  Freeway 
• Any road that acts, looks, & feels like a freeway should be set to  Freeway  road type.
• A Principal Arterial-Other is a  Major Highway 
• A Minor Arterial is a  Minor Highway 
• A Collector is a  Primary Street 
• All other roads are to be classified as  Street 

Refer to this chart to determine the road type of a given road based on the functional class. (TXDOT map is here - click on Functional Class on the left).

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

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.

FC issues by TxDot

If you find any issues where FC changes unexpectedly such as in the image (the small section of green in between 2 red sections), please let the Texas Regional Coordinator (RC) know exactly where this is located, so TxDOT can be notified.

Locking Standards

Places should be completed as fully as possible anytime they are created or updated. At a minimum, editors should:

• verify correct spelling of the name, using the guidelines below
• complete the address, to help when choosing among search results in the app, and
• ensure the correct location of the Point or Stop Point, to guide drivers to the correct location. Note that this may not always be on the street side of the location.

Phone numbers and opening hours are also particularly helpful to Wazers. Complete them whenever possible, using an online search, if necessary. Photos should help Wazers recognize the destination when they arrive.

When completed, places should be locked, to prevent inadvertent damage. Please don't lock places to their highest level until most of their information is completed, but do lock to a level higher than 1, once you have verified any information, to help protect from accidental damage through client submissions. The following are recommended (minimum) levels:

5 - Hospitals, universities, park and ride lots, arenas, airports

4 - Police Dept / Fire Station

4 - Large areas - (State Parks, if mapped, etc.)

3 - Gas Station

Most other places should be locked at 3, once completed.

Naming Standards

We are standardizing the naming of most public facilities and businesses. This makes search results more consistent and useful, and gives Wazers a more professional and uniform experience. The names have been designed to work well with instant search, regular search, and to be clear and concise in the map display. Please follow these guidelines when naming the places described below.

Places which are part of a larger area place (e.g. place points for parking lots in a university area, separate ER entrances in a hospital area, etc.) should be named with their unique name followed by a hyphen and the name of the larger area they belong to. For example "ER - Parkland Hospital"

Government Agencies

All places for the following agencies should be named according to the standards as follows:

City and County Offices: City or County Name followed by City Hall or department or agency as appropriate, for example:

"Dallas City Hall"

"Travis County Probation"

"Bexar County Courthouse"

Police and Sheriff's Departments: City, Agency or Division Name followed by "Police Station/Department" or "Sheriff's Office/Department" (should match signage), for example:

"Dallas Police Department"

"Austin Police - North Substation "

"Tarrant County Sherrif's Department"

"Travis County Sherrif's Office"

Fire Stations: Agency Name or abbreviation followed by “Fire Station – “ and the station number. For example:

"DFD Fire Station - 15"

"Austin Fire Station - 3"

"Whitehouse Vol Fire Station - 2"

Light Rail Stations: Start with the Agency, which line, followed by the station name. For example:

"DART Rail – Akard Street Station"

"DART Green Line – Fair Park Station"

In general, City Bus stops should not be mapped.

United States Postal Service: Start the name with CDP or Station name, then append “Post Office”. Place the City name and the ZIP code of the Post Office in the Description box, so it will be viewable in the app GO page. Alternate name should be “USPS”. For example:

"Oak Lawn Post Office"

"White Rock Station Post Office"

Here is the USPS tool to find the names of specific post offices. https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorAction!input.action

US VA Hospitals/Centers/Clinics: Should be named with their official name as the primary name. For VA hospitals/medical centers "(US Veterans Only)" should be added to the end of the primary name, and as the first line of the description. In the primary name, "VA" should be expanded as "Veterans Affairs", so as not to cause a TTS conflict with Virginia. Names can be shortened to remove extraneous words; for example, replace "Campus of the" from the official name with a hyphen (-). Any colloquial names should be added as alt names, so they are returned in search results, and also at the beginning of the description, so they are visible on the place preview page in the client. Some examples:

"Veterans Affairs - Healthcare Center at Harlingen (US Veterans Only)"

"Veterans Medical Clinic - McAllen"

"Veterans Affairs - North Texas Health Care System (US Veterans Only)"

Gas Stations

You should familiarize yourself with the gas stations wiki - specifically naming, branding, and stop points.

Places

Info for Places

Please provide as much info about a place as possible. However, DO NOT COPY FROM WEBSITES as this is plagiarism and will not be tolerated. The most common form is copying straight from Wikipedia. Please refrain from copy/paste anything from websites into the description field. They will be removed when discovered.

Recommended phone number formats: (903) 654-3210 or 903-654-3210 | Others may not auto-dial properly in some phones.

When to use Area or Point in Texas

Here is the Texas guidance on selecting Area or Point for Places in the Waze Map Editor. All areas are to be landmarked from fence line to fence line to include all parking lots, roads, and anything associated with the property.

The Primary Category for a Place is used to determine whether to use a Point or Area.

Place Name Harmonization

These name spellings are standardized 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.

If you don't find the business you're looking for, please use this form to submit the missing information.

View this list full-screen in Google Sheets

Major construction projects

See TxDot for a list of LONG TERM road closures & changes to traffic flow that impact the Waze map.

If you are aware or made aware of any long term closures (construction, work closures and emergency closures), please fill out this form. Your submission will be reviewed by US Champs and submitted to the Waze team upon approval.

I-35 (Austin to DFW)

I-35W Fort Worth (North Tarrant Express)

I-35W is being reconstructed from downtown Fort Worth to US-287. The new configuration will include tolled TEXPress lanes along with upgraded interchanges at SH-121, I-820 and US-287.

North Tarrant Express Main Page

North Tarrant Express - Lane Closures

I-35E Dallas to Denton (35 Express)

Thirty miles of I-35E is being rebuilt from I-635 in Dallas to US-380 in Denton. It will include two tolled reversible TEXPress lanes, new interchanges at FM 407 and Belt Line Rd and new bridges across Lake Lewisville.

35 Express Main Page

35 Express - Lane Closures

SH-183 / SH-114 / Loop 12 (Midtown Express)

The TEXPress lanes on SH-183 (Bedford) and SH-114 (Grapevine) will be extended eastward through Irving and past the SH-183/SH-114 merge into Dallas. TEXPress lanes will also be extend on Loop 12 from I-35E to SH-183 in Irving.

Midtown Express Main Page

Midtown Express - Lane Closures

SH-121 / SH-114 / SH-360 / I-635 Grapevine (DFW Connector)

Primary DFW Connector construction is complete, but more improvements to the connector are still in progress.

DFW Connector Main Page

DFW Connector - Lane Closures

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.

Red light cameras

Red Light Cameras are LEGAL in the State of Texas.

Contrary to popular belief, these cameras do not sit on the top of lights at an intersection. If you've gotten to an intersection, you've already passed the red light camera.These cameras mounted on traffic signals are used as part of the signal control. These compare sequential images of the intersection approach to determine if there is a vehicle (car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, etc) waiting and will trigger the sequence. These devices CANNOT issue tickets.

There are traditional traffic monitoring cameras covering most of the major highways in the state. These send live feeds to the various traffic agencies around the state and are for monitoring traffic only.

• Know your Cameras

Speed Cameras

Speed cameras are currently ILLEGAL in the State of Texas. Any request for a speed camera, or any approved speed cameras need to be removed from the map.

Military Bases

Texas has a long standing tradition for support the US military. If you have questions concerning any military base in the state, please do not hesitate to ask. All military bases in the state are set to the current installation standard.

• All gates at the military bases are set to private road in/street out with some gates having restrictions on them for the various gate closures.
• If you know of any changes in the hours of a gate, please let a US Champ know and they will adjust it accordingly.
• All gates are locked at a level 6 and are tiered down to a 4.

Landmarks approved for military bases are:

• Commissary
• PX/BX
• Gas stations
• Parks
• Museums

To do list

Want to help out with the map in Texas? Stop adding parking lot roads everywhere, solve URs, ask questions to anyone listed below, and seek out advice when/where needed. Please adhere to the rules for editing.

Upcoming Construction Projects

San Antonio Construction sources

Mapping utilities

• TxDot Maps
• Road Conditions throughout the state.
• List of State Routes in Texas

Editors in the State

If you are an editor in Texas, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in Texas, please ask to be added.

View this list full-screen in Google Sheets

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.

You may want to check common editing mistakes to see if you are editing properly. Although It is not possible to list every occurrence of problems which can occur in the editor, the following are some examples of what has happened in the past:

• Deleting and redrawing roads
• 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 in a timely manner (usually 48 hours)
• 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
• Temporary suspension of editing rights
• Permanent suspension of editing rights

User Reports (URs)

Update Requests in Waze Map Editor

Recently, there have been a rash of editors giving long winded responses to URs. The average person is not going to read beyond the 3rd or 4th line. In this example:

"Many drivers think a report shows their destination and route information, it doesn't. It doesn't even tell us who filed the report. We volunteer map editors only see where you are when you start your report and short pieces of the recommended and driven routes. We need more information to fix your problem. Thank you for the report and all the WAZE you help. If you respond to my query and I do not acknowledge within 1 day, please e-mail me at xxxxxxxxx@waze.com with a repeat of the information. This report will be closed as 'not identified' if there is no response within 7 days."

and this example:

"Please provide more details so we can investigate the "General error" you reported. Volunteer map editors only fix map problem. We don't see what you see on your screen. We only see where you were located when you started your report and a short segment of the WAZE recommended route and a short segment of the route taken. To test the routing, we need to know the approximate start and end points of your route. Your routing options are important. Do you Avoid toll roads? Avoid major highways? Dirt roads allow/don't allow/avoid long ones? Have you selected 'fastest route' or 'shortest route'? Thank you for the report and all the WAZE you help. If no response within 7 days, this report will be closed as 'Not identified'."

the user will most likely either not get beyond the "We need more information to fix your problem" or they will skim through it and not pay attention to what is being asked of them. Please keep responses to URs at a minimum. Asking someone to explain more information about their issue does not require a novel, it should read like the box score to a game in the newspaper.

A shorter, more to the point response should suffice. An example:

"You reported a general error at ______________________ and ______________________ but left no info as to what's wrong. Can you please elaborate, so we may look into and resolve the issue? Thank you."

or

"You reported a missing road, but didn't tell us the name of the road. Could you please give us the name, so we may add it to the map? Thank you."

These are short, simple, to the point, and don't bother the driver with useless information about satellites, sun spots, the curvature of Earth's horizon in relation to Mars' gravitational pull, or other weird explanations from editors which have popped up on URs.