Major Traffic Event

Content on this page was adapted from the WME Events Editor Guide prepared by Waze staff.

Major Traffic Events, or MTEs, are large-scale events that have associated road closures. MTEs can be sporting events (marathons, triathlons, etc), festivals, parades, significant construction works, VIP visits or even (natural) disasters like flooding. Reporting MTEs ensures that your local community is informed about closures and congestion due to relevant events nearby. This page will provide further details on how to create events and associated road closures within WME.

Preliminary notes

• To submit a MTE you need to have permission to add road closures or to work together with an editor that has this permission. In this phase of the tool, you will be able to create events and upload closures through WME. A web page is automatically created at the Waze events website upon event submission. This page includes the name, dates, description, planned road closures, overview map, and other related information.
• In certain cases, a push message is also sent to Wazers affected by the MTE.
• If a push message is desired, the MTE must be submitted at least two Israeli business days, or about 48 hours, before start of the event. This will give Waze HQ appropriate time to arrange for the push message. Editing of the MTE closures is still possible after submitting but having all closures attached to the MTE is crucial for the push message.
• If the event you are creating is a crisis or emergency with a widespread impact, use the crisis category and inform your Regional Coordinator. This allows for coordination among editors and staff for assistance in mapping shelters, adding closures, removing closures, monitoring hazards, etc.
  

Creation

1. Open WME.
2. Mouse over to the tab on the left pane labelled Events.
3. Create a new event by clicking Add Event. You will be presented with the displayed event editor panel.
4. Add event name in English (mandatory) - the event name should be as short as possible while accurately representing the event. There is a 27-character limit.
5. Add secondary event name in local language (optional) - the event name should be as short as possible while accurately representing the event.
6. Add the category of the event.
7. Add the city and state of the event. This will determine which roads can be closed in association with the event. If an event will cause road closures in multiple cities or outside any city, check the None box next to city. All roads in a state can be closed in association with events marked "No city."
8. Add start and end times for the event. Note: Allow for preparation and teardown after the event's scheduled ending. All closures should be within the general event start and end time, although this is no longer required in order to include closures in the event.
   1. Construction event types have no time length restriction. All other events are limited to 3 months.
   2. If event closure locations vary from day to day, such as during the Tour de France, create separate events by region/location. This allows us to send timely push/inbox notifications to users based on the closures that they’re affected by.
9. Add a website for further information about the event, if available.
10. Make sure to save!

Closure addition

1. Create closures as you normally would, but instead of leaving the event as “none”, choose your event in the drop down menu.
2. Save your closures. They will now be visible on the closures tab of the event in the event editor.

Submission

Once the closures are attached to the event, return to the events tab, select your event, click the submit button and confirm the submission. This will cause a web page to be created for the event and will also start the process to generate a push message for nearby Wazers. If a push notification is sent for the event, a green circle with a white check mark will appear next to the name of the event in the event list in WME. This notification is sent to Waze users affected by the event.

Email

As an alternative to submitting in WME, a major traffic event can be submitted to waze-closures@google.com with the following details:

• The event name in English and in the Local Language
• All street names closed during the event
• Intersecting street where each closure begins and ends
• Start and end time for each closed road
• Start and end date for each closed road
• Indicate if the whole road is closed or just one direction is closed