Introduction
Aloha to everyone interested in editing the Waze map for Hawaii! We look forward to working with new editors to help keep up with changes to the transportation system and points-of-interest across the state. Adding new editors who live in Maui, Kauai and Hawaii counties is an especially critical priority, as well as editors with access to military bases, but everyone is welcome — your contributions are needed.
However, it's important that managers be able to contact you, so all editors will be required to have private messaging turned on.
Major roads
Functional Classification
Hawaii is following the Functional Classification (FC) system for the USA, according to the federal Functional Classification standards adopted by the state Department of Transportation. Please do not alter roadway types without consulting with a state manager.
Local naming conventions
Hawaii uses SR-## for all state routes. When working on an area, if you encounter a road with the old State Hwy ## naming in either the principal or alternate name fields, please change that name to the SR-## format, or send a PM to a state manager to alert them. We are now discussing (forum link here) which segments of major state highways should have the SR-## in the principal field to enable the shield to display and for clarity to visitors using shielded maps, and which should retain their Hawaiian name because of local conventions.
Because most street and highway names are in the Hawaiian language, the editors are conducting a discussion (forum link here) about the use of diacriticals. The general practice now is to use street names without the diacriticals; the fonts in the editor currently don't fully support them anyway (the kahako is not available). However, where street signage includes them, some names do appear with the 'okina, represented as an apostrophe.
Lock Levels
We observe the following minimum lock levels for Waze road types:
| ROAD TYPE | LOCK LEVEL |
|---|---|
| Freeway | 4 |
| Ramp | 4 |
| Major Highway | 4 |
| Minor Highway | 3 |
| Primary Street | 2 |
| All Others | 1 |
Note that these are minimums and, for protection, certain segments may be at higher lock levels.
U-turns
In Hawaii, U-turns on *two-way* Primary Street through Major Highway type roads may be enabled if it is explicitly allowed by signage. This is based on local ordinances such one enacted in the City and County of Honolulu (link here), which bars drivers from making a U-turn "upon any street in a business district, upon any highway with three or more lanes, or at any intersection where traffic is controlled by traffic signal lights, except as otherwise permitted by official signs and markings."
Enabling U-turns even on streets where they may be legal has consequences on routing. This would be subject to changes in national guidance, but Hawaii editors should not enable them as a rule.
Community
Other community resources
Hawaii maintains a Google Hangouts chat room for real-time communications among editors. Currently, the way to request being added to that chat room is to send a PM to one of the state managers (confirming this). There is also a Waze Hawaii Facebook page, but this is meant more as a channel for app changes for Wazers and general awareness.
Places
Hawaii follows the USA standard for Places (link here). Do not deviate from the guidelines without first obtaining consensus to do so via the state forum linked on this page.
When adding a new place in WME, or approving a new place or a place update request (PUR), please be sure to do the following: Take the time to research all information regarding the place. Name, address, business website if they have one, phone number, etc. Check the appropriate "Services Offered" types.
In Hawaii the street segment fronting the Place often has one of the Census Designated Place (CDP) names in the City field for help with navigation. However, the Place file should list the City as displayed on the website or other primary source, usually the postal address.
Make sure any pictures submitted are usable. We have been rejecting photos with identifiable faces or license place numbers, although there is some dispute over whether this is sufficient grounds for rejection.
Basically, use your common sense: Is the photo helpful to the Wazer in recognizing that they are in the right place? Examples of some types of pictures that are unusable (and should thus be rejected) are:
- The inside of the business, or so close to the front door that you have to be at the front door to see it. The idea is to show it from far enough away that it gives an approaching driver an idea of what to look for.
- Close-up of drive-through menu.
- Upside down, blurry, rainy, fogged out, phone mount or part of car mostly blocking the view.
- A shot that is clearly just a "Selfie" of the person taking the picture of him/herself in front of the place being added/updated.
- Nudity/obscenity, or otherwise inappropriate.
Finally, once the place has been added and updated it should be locked. If it is complete with at least a phone number, website and hours, it should be locked at a minimum of rank (level) 3. If time is limited, you should at least enter at least a street address and lock it at 2 for most types of places (don't do this for private/residence type). Doing this helps protect against future picture updates being simply accepted from "trusted updaters." Most drivers do not edit so will always be considered Rank 1 in WME. Any update they submit to an existing place will be flagged for review by an editor.
Critical places such as airports, fire/police stations, jails/prisons, hospital/ER/urgent care locations should be locked at a minimum rank (level) of 4. They can be locked at a higher rank if circumstances warrant it.