The following guidelines should be generally followed when mapping driveways in the Waze editor. Any deviations from these guidelines should be discussed with your state's or territory's leadership. (Information available in the state and territory guidelines pages.)
Driveways that contribute to the navigation experience should be mapped. In low density areas, they can serve as useful visual references on otherwise featureless roads. Even in higher density areas, properties can be set back from the road by a significant distance, and the user experience is enhanced by front door navigation, rather than to be given an arrival notification 200 or more feet from the actual house. Finally, in many cases the actual entrance to a driveway can be obscured by trees, rocks, etc., making it difficult to determine exactly where the driver should turn into the property. The decision for which road type (parking lot road vs private road) is a regional one, for questions contact your regional leadership.
When a driveway is mapped, it is important to use a Residential Place Point (RPP), rather than a house number, as a house number would still give the arrival notification at the driveway entrance. Remember to follow the accepted guidelines for mapping RPPs, found here: Residential point place (RPP).
Map a driveway if ANY of the following apply:
- it serves a property which is set back a significant distance from the main road (200 feet or more),
- its entrance is obscured by trees or other objects such that the additional visual reference would be particularly helpful,
- the property served is offset from the driveway entrance, such that it's not clear from the road that the driveway serves the address,
- it serves two or more properties
- another properly-mapped segment would interfere with proper navigation for anyone starting a route at the property served by the driveway in question (in other words, if a property would not otherwise qualify for a driveway but is closer to another property's driveway or to the incorrect road than it is to the road to which the driveway connects).
- it serves a property on a divided road, where the driveway can be accessed by both directions of traffic (the median is broken to permit left-turns into and out of the driveway).
Do not map a driveway if
- the property is clearly visible when approaching from either direction in all conditions at typical speeds, or
- doing so would cause interference with other navigation features such as ETA calculations due to short segments on the main road.