---- Do not edit the [[USA/CommonState]] template without consensus from the other
* [http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/signtech/calnexus/ California Highway Exit Names & Numbers]
---- state and country managers.
----
[[Category:USA]]
---- To modify the content of this page, go to the discussion page. Go to the section
---- called [[Editing custom sections]] and use the links there. If you do not
---- see that section, then go to the main page, scroll to the bottom, and press
---- the link that creates that section, and then use it.
----
---- This page is copied to new pages with only the following code placed on the
---- page and then saved:
----
{{subst::USA/CommonState/Start}}
----
---- Alternately copy and paste this code below into the browser. Change the STATENAME at the end of the line to the name of the state or territory being created. Use the name as spelled in the [[Template:USA_Navbox]]
This page serves as the primary resource for editors of California. Review all the sections to better understand how the guidelines for this state might deviate from the overall USA or worldwide guidelines. If you have any comments or questions about this page or state refer to the community links below.
Nothing to report at this time.
Introduction
California is a part of the Southwest region, which includes the states and/or territories of:
Before editing the maps in California, be sure to fully review and understand the editing manual.
The Waze user community follows the Waze etiquette guidelines discussed in the Wiki. Be sure to familiarize yourself with these guiding principals while editing the maps and this Wiki, as well as when communicating with other Waze users.
NOTE: The Caltrans web site has been under revision. Some resources below may not currently be available directly from the Caltrans page.
For mapping resources specific to individual cities and towns in the state, see California/Cities and towns.
Community
The Waze forum is a great place to find answers to previously asked questions and also a place to ask new ones. Below are links to the forums specific to California.
New editors should consider checking into the formal mentoring program available at no charge.
Editor community
California communication is now unified in the Waze Southwest Region Discord community. To join the group, click here, sign up, and say Hi : https://discord.gg/twxnqnU
All editors are also recommended to join the US National community as well: https://discord.gg/WRq3tzV
MapRaid is a time-limited event during which map editors join together to resolve MP’s, UR’s, add & update “Places”, fix connectivity problems, add missing roads, and add/edit speed limit data in a pre-determined area of the map.
Upcoming events
No currently scheduled events.
Past events
The following events have been completed. Results can be seen in each link.
One of the most common errors when editing the maps is when an editor creates a road and does not confirm the road by setting the city and road name (or stating it has none).
To help update the current California roadways to the new functional classifications, go to the California FC update page.
Here is a bookmarklet which will locate the correct CRS Grid page for the area you are editing in. This is currently unavailable due to Caltrans web site updates. California Highway System is the unofficial reference for California Functional Classification]. CRS (PDF with signatures) is the currently recognized source. CRS grid information can be found here for cross reference and request via e-mail. Please contact the State Managers so requests to Caltrans can be consolidated.
Lock Levels
We observe the following minimum lock levels for Waze road types:
↑Use the lock level of the highest-locked connected segment.
↑Increase lock level to 3 in dense metropolitan areas
Note that these are minimums and, for protection, certain segments may be at higher lock levels.
U-turns
This is interim guidance for California, until such time as National standards are agreed upon.
U-turns on *two-way* Primary Street through Major Highway type roads may be enabled in either of the following two circumstances:
1) The U-turn is _explicitly_ allowed by signage; or
2) The U-turn is otherwise legal and safe, and there is _at least_ 10.1 m (33 feet) from the left edge of the departure lane to the "destination" curb. This can include any median that may exist to the left of the departure lane. (The measurement is intended to accommodate the turning radius of most passenger vehicles.)
Do NOT make a point of enabling all U-turns valid under this guidance, only as you encounter them and they are necessary. Do not enable U-turns on Street type roads. This guidance could change in the future.
Unsigned exit numbers
In California, highway forks and ramps sometimes lack exit number signage. Unsigned information generally does not belong in Waze instructions, but Caltrans has committed to marking exit numbers throughout California over time.
In simple situations where there is little chance of driver confusion, editors may add documented but unsigned exit numbers in expectation of their eventually appearing on signage. In complex situations, however — for example, when a highway comes to an end, changes designation, or joins a shared alignment — adding unsigned exit numbers to Waze instructions could confuse drivers. In such cases it is better to omit exit numbers until they become signed.
Under earlier guidance, editors may have added unsigned exit numbers even in complex, potentially confusing situations. These should not be removed without careful review, preferably based on personal experience and/or driver reports. There is to be no campaign to remove unsigned exit numbers from the Waze map of California.
Special roads
Drivable roads
California follows the standard USA guidelines for all of the following special road types.
Review the Wiki guidelines for non-drivable roads to ensure compliance with the general guidelines.
Unpaved check box
The US wiki entry on the unpaved checkbox / attribute prohibits its use to flag paved roads regardless of their condition. The stated expectation is that drivers who ask to avoid unpaved roads will do so only to avoid unpaved surface types, and are not concerned with surface quality. It is thought that drivers will be upset if Waze avoids any paved roads in their area, even the very worst ones, as a result of their checking the app option to avoid dirt (soon to be unpaved) roads.
Our experience in California, however, has been the opposite. Drivers frequently complain about being routed over roads whose paving is so poor that even some fraction of locals habitually avoid them. We want to support these drivers. Consequently, in California it is acceptable to use the unpaved checkbox to flag paved roads if they are in uncommonly poor condition by local standards.
Paved roads whose condition is typical of the local area should not be marked as unpaved, no matter how poor they may be by absolute standards. Use of the unpaved checkbox for uncommonly poor paved roads should be rare. Please add a Map Comment point when doing so to inform other editors why the road was flagged, and consider locking the road higher than usual.
When managing a section of roadway under construction or being closed for a major event, follow the Wiki guidelines on construction zones and Real time closures.
This is the URL to the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS). By selecting Counties (or Areas, for example, Los Angeles and Orange Counties are but one area), a road closure list can be generated. It does not seem to be digitized, so that a Wazer could update for all.
See California/Closures for guidance in California that may not be universal to all other states and territories.
Places
California follows the USA standard for Places. Do not deviate from the guidelines without first obtaining consensus to do so via the state forum linked on this page.
Not every camera-looking device at an intersection is a speed or red light camera. Generally speaking:
a speed camera takes a photograph of a vehicle when it passes by the camera at too high a speed.
a red light camera takes a photograph of a vehicle that enters an intersection after the light is red. In some areas, it takes the photograph when a vehicle is not clear of the intersection some period after the light turns red.
When adding a camera, be sure to review the camera placement recommendations.
Laws regarding speed and red light cameras vary between the states and territories, so be sure to understand the details of camera legality in California.
Based on information researched at the time this page was created, California does not have any laws regarding speed cameras, therefore they may be present in the state, and red light cameras are permitted statewide in California.
No other camera types should be mapped in Waze.
Recently some California cities have been removing red light cameras.
Many states and territories keep an active list of pending or closed actions that need to be done in the state by the editors. All editors are welcome to contribute to the list of activities.
The table below identifies the editors also designated as Area Managers or higher who are editing in California. If you have any questions, please consider contacting them directly as needed. If you are an Area Manager that covers California, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in California, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username) in the correct rank section.
The editor who also serves as the Regional Coordinator for California is automatically listed at the top of the table. That editor may not be highly active in this state and therefore may not be listed separately in the table.
California — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators
