Will be drafting language for the new unpaved and Off-road / Not Maintained on Road Type
Current wazeopedia
Other drivable roads
Off-road / Not maintained Road
The Off-road / Not maintained (formerly Dirt Road / 4x4) type has the unique property that Waze users may ask not to be routed over it. Users may ask to avoid it for all through routing with the settings option "Dirt roads - Don't allow", or to avoid it for through routing longer than 300 m (984 ft) with the option "Dirt roads - Avoid long ones".
This attribute typically represents public side roads that some fraction of local drivers habitually avoid due to surface quality. In metropolitan or other urbanized regions, this generally means unpaved (dirt, gravel, grass, or crushed rock) roads, or roads in uncommonly poor condition by local standards. In other areas, roads with unpaved surfaces may be essential routes and thus necessarily set to the appropriate road type such as Street, Primary Street, or even higher, as if they were paved.
Check your state page for details on whether your state follows unique guidelines for dirt roads, or contact your regional coordinator for further guidance.
Proposed Change
Drivable roads
Unpaved check box
The checkbox is an attribute which can be applied to any road type. It indicates that the road is not paved with asphalt or concrete. The unpaved attribute affects routing over driveable road types; it does not really affect non-driveable road types since the client does not use them for routing. The client may avoid routing over otherwise driveable segments that have this attribute checked based on user preference, destination, and other options.
Any driveable road which is not paved with asphalt or concrete should have this attribute checked.
User setting options for unpaved attribute
This attribute has the unique property that Waze users may select when to not to be routed over unpaved road segments. Users may choose to:
- 'Dirt roads - Don't allow' - Avoids through routing on all unpaved roads
- 'Dirt roads - Avoid' - Avoids through routing on unpaved roads longer than 300 m (984 ft)
- 'No selection' - Allows through routing that could include unpaved road(s) (i.e. ignores whether roads have the unpaved attribute checked)
- These settings are currently still referred to in the client as "Dirt Roads", that will be updated soon to read "Unpaved Roads". However rest assured they apply to this attribute, and not to the Off-road / Not maintained type.
In some regions paved roads in uncommonly poor condition by local standards may be set with this attribute as well. Check your state page for details on whether your state follows unique guidelines for unpaved roads, or contact your Regional Coordinator for further guidance.
Other drivable roads
Off-road / Not maintained Road
The Off-road / Not maintained (formerly Dirt Road / 4x4 and Unpaved) segment types had the unique property that Waze users may ask not to be routed over it. That has now shifted to the unpaved attribute check box (see above).
Off-road / Not maintained roads are typically deeply rutted, thick mud; have irregular shaped rocks, fallen trees, and branches; and deep streams, creeks, or river crossings. A typical car would bottom out, get stuck, or even break an axle trying to traverse these segments. The vast majority of vehicles would not be traveling down these roads. This segment type should strictly be used by hard terrain/special vehicle type driving.
Currently, Waze does not plan to support a 4X4 vehicle type in the client app, but the developers have left this option to map these paths so they can be displayed on the map. They have an extremely high penalty associated with them and will not be suggested in any routes in almost all circumstances.
Check your state page for details on whether your state follows unique guidelines for hard terrain/special vehicle roads, or contact your Regional Coordinator for further guidance.