Places/Gas station

The Gas Station Place marks a well-defined area characterized by fuel pumps and a cashier or pay station.

A complete and accurate Gas Station Place enables drivers to search for their favorite brands of fuel and the best fuel prices near their current location or route. More about the gas station functionality in the client can be found in the Waze Help Center.

Add a Gas Station

Many Gas Station Places have been imported to the Waze map from a 3rd party provider and may require significant updates to conform to Community standards.

Area size

Gas station places should be drawn as an area, with the outsize dimensions stretched to the fenceline / curbline and should include all parking lots, convenience store buildings, car washes, etc, that are a part of the same business. Most stations are small, so stretching them to the limits of their property should make them more visible in the client app.

NOTE: The geometry of places imported from 3rd party sources is not reliable, and usually only represents the rough location of the gas station.

In cases where a much larger parking lot is near a gas station but serves other businesses not part of the gas station (truck-stop parking, adjacent fast food restaurants, etc.), consider drawing a separate parking lot following these guidelines.

Stop Point

Correct Stop Point Location

The stop point for gas stations should be placed on a parking lot road that accesses the area.

Category

With the implementation of Places, multiple categories may now be assigned to a gas station. The primary (or first) category must be Gas Station to enable additional features such as fuel prices and brand name.

Additional categories could include: Convenience Store, ATM, Garage / Automotive Shop, or Car Wash. A full-service automotive repair business or restaurant may merit a separate Place (point).

Name

The name of the Gas Station should reflect its brand affiliation so that drivers can select their preferred brand from the gas station search results in the client app.

Alternative names may include the name as provided by the third-party provider or the name of the associated convenience store.

Special case names

There may be special cases where the name could require additional information beyond the brand name.

Costco Gas Station

Gas stations affiliated with a larger grocery store, department store, or warehouse store should be mapped as a separate place. These gas stations must also have a differentiated name; for example:

• "Costco Gas" vs "Costco Wholesale"
• "Giant Gas" vs "Giant Food"

If gas stations in close proximity share a common brand, naming can be differentiated based on access from major roadways or by unique characteristics; for example:

• "Shell - Eastbound" vs. "Shell - Westbound"
• "Exxon - Tigermart" vs. "Exxon - 7-Eleven"

Rest areas situated along divided roads (major interstates, toll-roads, and other limited access roadways) are often located on both sides or the roadway and can confuse drivers reporting prices or searching for destinations. The name should include the brand, route number, and direction of travel; for example:

• "Mobil - I-95 Northbound" vs. "Mobil - I-95 Southbound"

Brand

If you know what brand gasoline a station sells, you should select it as the Brand. Stations named after their brands, such as big companies like Shell, 76, Mobil, Chevron, are easy to identify the brand (which should be selected). Smaller or non-national stations may be harder to identify. Some are their own brand and some buy a specific larger nationwide brand of gasoline. Do some research to find out this information. If it isn't clear or information isn't available, leave the field blank, but do not select "unbranded".

Big-box and one-stop-type stores like Fred Meyer, Costco, Sams Club, Home Depot, Safeway, Winco, etc., often buy a larger national gas brand. However, to allow drivers to select their preferred retail brand (rather than Brand of gasoline), select the store name as the brand.

Lock

To prevent loss of data due to automatic acceptance of submissions from "trusted users," Gas Stations should be locked to at least level 2, but preferably higher (3+) in areas with an area manager. On major roads and rest areas, lock levels 5 or higher can be used to protect the underlying gas station infrastructure from inadvertent changes.

Best Practice Examples

Truck Stop / Travel Plaza

Notice in the example below that the truck entrance has a separate and unique entrance from the cars. Also, the restaurant on the property has its own Point Place.

An example of Best Practices at a Travel Plaza

Rest Area Gas Station

Rest areas should have a separate and unique Gas Station Place. If a single rest area has more than one gas plaza, two stations may be used as shown below:

An example of Best Practices at a Travel Plaza

Store Associated Gas Station

An example of Best Practices for an Associated Gas Station

Remove a Gas Station

This new section is currently undergoing modifications. The information presented should be considered a draft, not yet ready for use. This content is open to changes from anyone during construction. If you would like to make changes or have questions, please post a message in this forum.

See Also

Gas stations may be treated as Parking Lots. See the Small Parking Lots article for details on the best map editing practices for parking lots.