Texas

Information related to using Waze in the State of Texas. This page supercedes any instructions given by 

Cities and towns

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

Major roads

See Road names/USA & Road types/USA.

As of this time, Texas is NOT participating in the new Functional Classification of roads.

Austin and a small part of San Antonio is currently going under testing for functional classification. If successful, a list of guidelines for functional classification will appear. The entire state will not follow functional class, as it is pointless in the vast rural areas of Texas. Please do not change any roads to match functional classification right now. Any changes to functional class within the state may result in discipliary action.

Landmarks

In late 2012 a discussion was started in the Connecticut Section of the Waze Forum that determined the existing worldwide guideline of "don't map individual businesses" wasn't enough and we needed a more complete set of guidelines for landmarks in worldwide. As a result of that discussion a set of guidelines was created. If you wish to propose changes to these guidelines, please do so in the forum. As always, the worldwide rule of "don't map individual businesses" still applies.

• Guidelines for Landmarks in Connecticut
• Approved Texas landmarks
• Current list of areas/places

Please do not forget that a recent update to WME has enabled the Address properties for Landmarks (City, State & Country) and ensure this information is filled out & correct.

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.

Parent	Category	Type	Comments
Car Services	Car Wash	Point
Car Services	Charging Station	Point
Car Services	Garage / Automotive Shop	Point
Car Services	Gas Station	Area	Many gas stations also have convenience stores and ATMs. Remember to use "Gas Station" as the primary category and the add any others which are relevant.
Car Services	Parking Lot	Both	There are very few parking lots which should be mapped at all. Please see the Places/Parking lot article.
Transportation	Airport	Area	Special-handling
Transportation	Bridge	NONE
Transportation	Bus Station	Both	Greyhound stations are area, city bus stops, point
Transportation	Ferry Pier	Point
Transportation	Junction / Interchange	NONE
Transportation	Seaport / Marina / Harbor	Area	Size-dependent.
Transportation	Subway Station
Transportation	Taxi Station	Point
Transportation	Train Station	Point
Transportation	Tunnel	NONE
Professional and public	Cemetery	NONE
Professional and public	City Hall	Area
Professional and public	College / University	Area
Professional and public	Conventions / Event Center	Area	Size-dependent
Professional and public	Courthouse	Area
Professional and public	Embassy / Consulate	Area
Professional and public	Factory / Industrial	NONE
Professional and public	Fire Department	Area
Professional and public	Government	Area
Professional and public	Hospital / Medical Care	Area
Professional and public	Information Point	Point
Professional and public	Kindergarten	Point
Professional and public	Library	Point
Professional and public	Military	NONE	See below
Professional and public	Offices	NONE
Professional and public	Organization or Association	Point
Professional and public	Police Station	Area
Professional and public	Prison / Correctional Facility	NONE
Professional and public	Post Office	Area
Professional and public	Religious Center	Area
Professional and public	School	Area
Shopping and services	Arts & Crafts	Point
Shopping and services	ATM	NONE
Shopping and services	Bank / Financial	Point
Shopping and services	Bookstore	Point
Shopping and services	Car Dealership	Point	Size-dependent
Shopping and services	Car Rental	Point
Shopping and services	Convenience Store	Point
Shopping and services	Currency Exchange	Point
Shopping and services	Department Store	Point
Shopping and services	Electronics	Point
Shopping and services	Fashion and Clothing	Point
Shopping and services	Flowers	Point
Shopping and services	Furniture / Home Store	Point
Shopping and services	Gifts	Point
Shopping and services	Gym / Fitness	Point
Shopping and services	Hardware Store	Point
Shopping and services	Jewelry	Point
Shopping and services	Laundry / Dry Cleaning	Point
Shopping and services	Market	Point
Shopping and services	Music Store	Point
Shopping and services	Personal Care	Point
Shopping and services	Pet Store / Veterinarian	Point
Shopping and services	Pharmacy	Point
Shopping and services	Photography	Point
Shopping and services	Shopping Center	Area
Shopping and services	Sporting Goods	Point
Shopping and services	Supermarket / Grocery	Point	Standalone could be an Area, but a Point if it is part of larger shopping mall/center.
Shopping and services	Swimming Pool	Point
Shopping and services	Toy Store	Point
Shopping and services	Travel Agency	Point
Food and drink	Bakery	Point
Food and drink	Bar	Point
Food and drink	Coffee shop	Point
Food and drink	Dessert	Point
Food and drink	Fast Food	Point
Food and drink	Food Court	Point
Food and drink	Ice Cream	Point
Food and drink	Restaurant	Point
Culture & entertainment	Art Gallery	Point
Culture & entertainment	Casino	Area	There's only one casino in Texas
Culture & entertainment	Club	Point
Culture & entertainment	Game Club	Point
Culture & entertainment	Movie Theater	Point
Culture & entertainment	Museum	Point
Culture & entertainment	Music Venue	Point
Culture & entertainment	Performing Arts Venue	Point
Culture & entertainment	Racing Track	Area
Culture & entertainment	Stadium / Arena	Area
Culture & entertainment	Theme Park	Area
Culture & entertainment	Theater	Point
Culture & entertainment	Tourist Attraction / Historic Site	Both	Size-dependent. If not sure, ask
Culture & entertainment	Zoo / Aquarium	Area	Size-dependent
Other	Construction Site	NONE	Not necessary to be mapped.
Other	Residence / Home	NONE	Not to be mapped
Lodging	Bed & Breakfast	Point
Lodging	Camping / Trailer Park	Point
Lodging	Cottage / Cabin	Point
Lodging	Hostel	Point
Lodging	Hotel	Point
Outdoors	Beach	NONE
Outdoors	Golf Course	Area
Outdoors	Park	Area
Outdoors	Playground	Point
Outdoors	Plaza	Point
Outdoors	Promenade	Point	Unsure about mapping these at all
Outdoors	Scenic Lookout / Viewpoint	Point
Outdoors	Ski Area	NONE	Not in Texas
Outdoors	Sports Court	Point
Natural features	Farm	NONE
Natural features	Forest / Grove	Area	Only map official state/national forests, not every stand of trees.
Natural features	Island	NONE
Natural features	River / Stream	NONE
Natural features	Sea / Lake / Pond	NONE

Major construction projects

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

Special roads

• Divided Highways
• Carpool, HOV, Transit lanes
• Roundabouts and Traffic Circles
• Cul-de-sac's
• FM Roads are to be set to primary street east of US 281 and north/east of I-37. All other FM roads are set to minor highway.
• Dirt Roads - In Texas ALL roads that are normally unpaved 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 moutainous areas throughout the state, as they are most likely base import roads and not real roads.
• Parking Lot Roads PLEASE do not put these roads through gas stations or label every single lane in a parking lot.
• Toll Roads
• Frontage roads do not need to be primary street unless in major cities.
• Alleys are NOT MAPPED in Texas.

Non-drivable roads

Generally, if a road can't be driven on (e.g. Walking Trail, Pedestrain Boardwalk, Stairway, Railroad, Runway/Taxiway) 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. Please note there are several Railroads mapped in Texas, these railroads are mapped in a VERY particular manner by Senior Area Managers and Country Managers to prevent Waze from routing on them.

Speed / red light cameras

Red Light Cameras are 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.

How to Identify 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 military base 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 5 or 6.
• 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.

Mapping utilities

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

Area Managers

Username	Area Managed	Comments	Forum PM
Rank 6 Country Managers
txemt	US South Central Regional Coordinator	Based out of Miami, FL born/lived/travelled through most of Texas	PM
jasonh300	US South Central Regional Coordinator	Based out of New Orleans, LA	PM
Rank 5 Country Managers (Texas Based)
LittlestLou	DFW Metroplex	Based in the DFW Metroplex	PM
pjlasl	North Texas	Based out of Weatherford	PM
Rank 4 Area Managers
jstrangfeld	North DFW Metroplex		PM
ctpoole	Austin		PM
Rank 3 Area Managers
jeigh17	El Paso		PM
shadoh	DFW Metroplex		PM
MisterTodd	East DFW Metroplex		PM
tcalvert317	San Antonio		PM
danofsatx	San Antonio		PM
PvilleT	Austin		PM

If you are an Area Manager that covers the Texas, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in Texas, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username).

Discipline

Waze has been designed to be an open community with various levels of editors. Rank 5 and 6 editors are to be respected at all times and most of their instructions are to be followed. 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.

It is not possible to list every occurrence of problems which can occur in the editor, but 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

Everyone is allowed one free pass, but disciplinary actions after the first occurrence may include:

• Formal mentoring
• Temporary suspension of editing rights
• Permanent suspension of editing rights