USA/Southeast

   This page contains information related to editing Waze maps in the USA Southeast Region which includes Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.  It takes precedence over any more geographically localized state-level sub-pages to insure regional unity and consistency.  It is not the intent of this page to over-ride any US-level page.  If the information on this page conflicts with a US-level page, the US-level page takes precedence (exception: dirt/unpaved roads).  Questions should be addressed to a Level 5 or 6 editor listed below.  

   See the Southeast Forum for more information.  In most cases, anything listed below as "planned" will link to an existing US-level page.

   This page is maintained by banished.  Please coordinate any changes in advance.  Southeast map editors are encouraged to add/modify their own information in the Southeast Editors table, below.

   All editors should be intimately familiar with Editing Best Practices.

Cities and towns

• Alabama: The are 426 municipalities and 67 counties in the state.  The primary urban centers are Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery (state capitol), and Huntsville, all pierced by or nearby the I-65 corridor.  The toll system is Freedom Pass.  Alabama is in the Central time zone.

• Florida: There are 473 municipalities and 67 counties in the state. Orlando and neighboring Lake Buena Vista endure the most editing and map reports due to their popularity as global tourist destinations, to the point of being not as "navigation trustworthy" as other areas.  The toll system is "Sunpass" and it is near impossible to travel anywhere in Florida from Orlando southward without encountering it.  Outside of Florida, it is compatible only with NC QuickPass.  Florida spans the Eastern and Central time zones, with the dividing line at the Appalachicola RIver west of Tallahassee.  

• Georgia:  There are 523 muncipalities and 159 counties in the state.  The toll system is PeachPass and is primarily found on HOV lanes in metro Atlanta.  Some HOV lanes require PeachPass.  Georgia is in the Eastern time zone.

Road (segment) types

   Determining road types in the Southeast aligns with the Waze USA Standard for for freeway, major highway, minor highways, and primary streets.  The Waze USA standard is a hybrid system based on a national standard called "functional classification" with a few modifications.  

   Functional classification maps are available for most states.  Compliance across state borders is important to insure better route selections between states; however, editors in some states have deferred adoption of the USA Standard due to in-state concerns.  If you edit in any Region than the Southeast, you must comply with that state's policies.

   Although the Waze USA Standard permits some road-type selection deviation, at present no Southeast deviations are permitted, but may be in the future.

Minimum Road Type Standards

Interstate = freeway
US Hwy = major (MH)
State Roads = minor (mH)

   Application of the Waze USA Standard may permit a segment be upgraded one or two steps up from those minimums, but never downgraded.

Dirt (unpaved/gravel) roads

   The USA Standard (matrix table) does not specify how to set unpaved road segments, so we define that here.  Unpaved roads may or may not be classified in the states' functional classification system.  If they are, set the road type according to the functional classification.  If they are not, set the road type to Dirt Road / 4x4 Trail.  

   To stay aligned with the USA Standard, a County Road functionally classified as Local, or a Local street classified as a collector, is still to be set as a Primary Road. A Local street functionally classified by the DOT as Local, is a Street. Otherwise, dirt is dirt.  The majority of dirt roads are not functionally classified.

How to determine when to set a dirt road as type dirt road		Dirt (unpaved or gravel)
		County Road	Street
Functional Class	Collector	PS	PS
	Local	PS	Street
	not classified	Dirt	Dirt

If the users' client options are set to avoid dirt roads, they will still be routed on dirt roads functionally classified as either a Collector or Street.  This is necessary to insure beginning-to-end routing should the origin/destination be on an unpaved road; however, Waze route pruning will only consider these lower-priority roads (Primary Street, Street, Dirt) near the origin/destination.

Examples:

• An unpaved County Road identified in the DOT FC system as a Collector is a Primary Street.
• An unpaved street identified in the DOT FC system as a Local road is a Street.
• Any unpaved road not listed in the DOT FC system is Dirt.

Road segment naming

Interstates: I-xx
US Hwy: US-xx
State Road/Rte/Hwy: SR-xx
County Rte/Hwy: CR-xx

Often when US Hwys, State Roads, and County Roads pass through municipalities, they have a local name (e.g, "Main St").  Please see Road Names for instructions on how to name these segments.  Check here for other states.  

Mapping resources

• Map Editor
• Functional Classification for all US

Alabama

• Functional Classification

Florida

  Florida is divided into Regional Planning Councils which include transporation issues.  Several GIS map sources (not necessarily with FC data) may be found in the Florida Mapping wiki.  

  Functional Classification

• Interactive: At present, the state site is of limited value due to its limited operating hours
• Static: Install the free ARCGIS viewer and download the FC layer.(In Windows, left-click the link -> File -> Download.)

NOTE: After the FC updates are complete, Florida begins to enter a "maintenance mode." This means updates only as required by construction. Most major work is complete except for residential streets outside of metro areas. Mass editing of anything other above Street level will be subject to more scrutiny, e.g., were the edits actually improving/fixing anything, or were they edits for the sake of edits (& points)?

Some individual counties with FC information for additional reference.

• Broward
• Leon (Tallahassee)
• St. Lucie
• West Florida "ftp.wfrpc.org/FUNCLASS" (copy & paste the link into your browser)
  • Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton

   Other Resources

• Florida DOT (General Interest Highway Statistics)
• State Highway Map
• County Maps (for reference, only, as these are not indicative of the USA Standard)

Georgia

   Functional Classification

• Functional Classifcation   Atlanta Metro (draft)

   Other Resources

• Georgia DOT
• State Highway Map (look under the "Transportation Maps" heading)

Places (formerly Landmarks)

Interchanges are not landmarked. For all other types of Places, see Landmarks.

Major construction projects

See the states' Department of Transporation (DOT) web sites for a list of long term road closures and changes to traffic flow that impact the Waze Map.

• Alabama DOT
• Florida DOT 
• Georgia DOT

Special roads

• Divided Highways
• Carpool, HOV, Transit lanes
• Roundabouts/Traffic Circles
• Cul-de-sac's
• Parking Lot Roads
• Toll Roads

Alleys

These are mapped as a Parking Lot road only if the alley leads to more than one address (businesses or residences) or is a named street.  Otherwise, alleys are not mapped.

Non-drivable roads

Generally, if a path can't be driven on (e.g. Walking Trail, Pedestrian Boardwalk, Stairway, Runway/Taxiway) then it not normally mapped. If mapped, do not connect to any roads.  Waze is a driving app, not a pedestrian app.

Ferries

Waze does not presently incorporate ferries into its programming infrastructure, so they are NOT mapped (e.g. Tampa - Key West, Mobile Bay).  For areas where residents are dependent upon ferries, see the Editing Manual, but there's no place in the Southeast that fits that description.

Railroads

Railroads should be mapped since some users run Waze while on the train thereby contributing false data to the system. This false data has been known to effect rate information on adjacent roads and generate false missing road reports.

Time restricted turns

(planned)

Speed / red light cameras

Speed cameras

(planned)

Red light cameras

Currently, the only way to add cameras to the editor are from the app. When placing a camera in the app, drop a general error with "RLC W" where W = the direction the camera is facing. This will allow other editors to know which way the camera is facing when they go to approve it in the editor.

Other camera types

These are cameras or signs that either provide driver feedback or are used for traffic control. These devices CAN NOT issue tickets and are not mapped.

How to Identify Cameras.

To do list

The Waze USA Standard for assigning segment types for freeways, major highways, and state roads is mostly complete. County Hwys need review (as of 2014-04-27).  

Forum

USA section of Waze Forum

Southeast Editors

 If you are an Area Manager granted editing privileges anywhere in Alabama, Florida, or Georgia, or a USA Country manager that frequently edits there, please add yourself to this table (alphabetical by username).

Username	Assigned Responsibility	Location	Profile
Rank 6
banished	Southeast Regional Coordinator	Florida Panhandle	Profile
txemt	South Central/US Territories RC	Miami, Fl	PM
Rank 5
DonJ2	Country Manager	DeBary, FL	Profile
driving79	Country Manager	NE, Fl	PM
aarakes	Area Manager		Profile
Rank 4
Your Name Here			Your Profile link
Rank 3
Jpere	Area Manager	Miami	Profile