Turn instruction

A turn instruction is the combination of text, images, and spoken words that Waze provides to the Wazer, enabling the Wazer to follow Waze's route guidance, ideally with minimal thought and without confusion.

Overview

Turn instructions tell a user where and when to turn, keep, exit, continue, or make a U turn. Editors must take special care to ensure that turn instructions give Wazers clear and useful directions.

A turn instruction can include a distance or time measurement, lanes, a voice prompt, and a road name component.

By default, a turn instruction will use the primary street name of the outbound segment for both display and TTS. If there is a shield associated with the primary street name on the outbound segment and that street name is simple and contains the same number as the shield (such as “US-90 E” with a US Hwy shield containing “90” and direction “East”), the shield will be shown in the turn instruction in place of the street name.

Now, editors can customize turn instructions to add additional elements to a turn instruction to enhance Wazers' experience on the road. These components include shields, control cities and other destinations, exit numbers, and more.

General principles

Turn instructions should match signage as closely as practicable within the limitations of the Waze interface, while still being sensible.

Visually, the elements of the turn instruction should match the visual order of elements on the sign as closely as practicable.

Compass directions should be spelled out when they are used to represent a direction of travel.

The word "to" should be included if and only if it is actually present on signage, and should be capitalized as it is on the sign (whether "TO", "To", or "to").

Editable components of a turn instruction

Visual instructions

The visual instructions component contains the "meat" of the instruction, including any shields.

In the app, the "visual instructions" component is displayed as the primary element of the turn instruction, on the first line (below the distance to turn) and with bold text.

Toward

The toward component is primarily intended for things like control cities and other destinations, but it may also be used for additional road names where doing so would allow better matching of a sign layout.

In the app, the "toward" component is displayed in non-bold text as the second line of the instruction, below the "visual instructions" component.

Exit signs

The exit signs component is used to insert an exit number in a dedicated, fixed place.

In the app, the "exit sign" is displayed in the top right corner of the turn instruction panel.

Voice prompt

The voice prompt component allows you to decide whether to override the "Waze default" voice prompt.

In the app, this affects both the spoken instruction and the arrow that is displayed on screen before lanes appear.

TTS

The TTS component allows you to override the street name that would otherwise be spoken in the instruction.

In the app, the "TTS" component replaces the street name portion only of any TTS instruction. It affects only the spoken instruction, and only if you are using TTS (because, of course, only TTS speaks street names).

Lanes

The Lanes component, including the number and association of lanes and the arrows displayed on screen once lanes appear, is editable using the lanes interface and is outside the scope of this article.

Non-editable components of a turn instruction

Distance or time

The distance or time component is based on reality and explained in more detail in the article on audible instructions.

Guidance

When to customize turn instructions

Custom turn instructions should be added any time signage for a particular turn includes more than just the primary street name (or associated shield) of the outbound segment. In particular, custom turn instructions should be added:

• for any numbered exit;
• anywhere a shield is desired but won't be automatically displayed; and
• anywhere else that directional signage shows something other than the primary name (or shield) of the outbound segment (i.e., most exit ramps, onramps, and wayfinders; surface intersections where signage for a particular turn, but not at most turns in the area, shows shields at least as prominently than road names; etc.).

Exit signs

Use the right exit sign if the exit is to the right of continuing lanes, or the left exit sign if the exit is to the left of continuing lanes.

We’ve requested exit sign options without an arrow, which will be useful in cases where (we hope) inheritance will take you down an "exit right, then keep left" path or similar. For the time being, [don’t add turn instructions yet at all/add the one that fits best and leave yourself a map comment or other note to come back].

Type the exit number into the field as it appears on the sign (numbers, letters, with or without spaces and hyphens; but remove spaces if necessary to fit within the character limit).

Visual instructions and toward

The “Visual instructions” and “toward” components contain most of the visual elements of a turn instruction, including road names, shields, control cities, and other destinations (but not exit numbers).

Exit ramps, entrance ramps, wayfinders, and where there is a Big Green Sign

This subsection applies to all instructions onto, off of, or between freeways, exit ramps, onramps, or similar, and wherever there is a Big Green Sign.

The principal goal of mapping turn instructions is to match the layout of any Big Green Sign as best we can, and to match non-BGS signage in a consistent way

Which signs to use

Where there is a Big Green Sign assembly for the movement you're mapping (like a typical freeway exit sign), use information from the last Big Green Sign assembly before or at the location of the movement.

Where there is not a Big Green Sign (which is often the case at the foot of an exit ramp or before entering an onramp), combine shield elements from the Directional Assembly and text elements from the Destination Sign [see pages 149-165 of MUTCD 2009 edition].