Introduction
Walking Trail is a non-drivable segment type available in the WME found under the Roads menu. Waze will not use this segment type for routing. As Waze is designed as a commuter driving aid it has no plans to support the use of the App for walking or cycling. This segment type is available as there are limited situations, when mapped correct, non-drivable segments can improve the user experience.
Editors should only map Walking Trails that are a benefit to Wazers driving motor vehicles, any road that only encourages or benefits non-driving users should not be mapped. By over mapping Walking Trails it may encourage the use of Waze by users such as walkers or cyclists, this could lead to the pollution of speed data and create false congestion reports and negatively influence routing.
 |
Be aware of the WME language setting! This article uses localised names which can be found when using the English (UK) language. |
Walking Trails
When a destination can only be reached along a mapped Walking Trail the route will end at the virtual node at the junction with the drivable segment. The App will snap wazers to the alignment of a Walking Trail when displaying their location.
 |
As of writing (September '18), virtual nodes are not working correctly and destinations along them may cause URs due to bad routing. |
Characteristics
A Walking Trail segment type should ultimately be connected to a drivable road segment. Instead of creating a standard junction node a 'virtual' node is created. This does not split the drivable segment and will not allow routing onto the non-drivable segment, turn arrows will not appear.
It is not possible to convert a Walking Trail segment type to any of the other type available in the WME, nor vice versa. Should a drivable road be permanently closed and requires converting to a Walking Trail , it is necessary to delete the original segment and draw a new Walking Trail segment along the same alignment. This is also true for the reverse scenario.
House numbers can be added to a Walking Trail, routing to mapped house numbers works based on the routing behaviour mentioned above. If the house number is on a Walking Trail Waze will only ever route the wazer to the virtual node junction with the drivable segment.
When to map Walking Trails
In heavily built up areas it is possible some destinations, such as a row of terraced houses, can only be accessed via foot. When mapped using the Walking Trail segment type wazers will be routed to the virtual node joining the Walking Trail to the drivable road regardless where the destination is along the Walking Trail .
It is worth noting that when a Walking Trail is connected at both ends to drivable segments the routing server will choose whichever end it believes to give the best route to the destination, this is due to Walking Trails having fixed speed data of 2 m/s. This can be used to map a location that has access from 2 drivable segments, such as a railway station with no car park or main entrance.
 |
Due to the App snapping wazers to a Walking Trail, avoid mapping them in parallel to drivable segments. |
What not to map
- Walking Trails along roads - these should never be mapped, the road segment is enough for Waze to create routing choices and the proximity of the segments means one will hide the other when viewed in the App.
- Canal tow paths - unless the tow path is the only means to get to a destination, mapping the canal itself is a better visual navigation reference than the tow path.
- Parks & tourist attractions - similar to mapping parking roads, Waze is not intended to navigate around a country park or theme park. Once the waze has got to the main destination we want Waze to 'go quiet' to allow the wazer to concentrate on their final task, be that parking up or following local signage. Mapping every pathway in a local park only adds clutter to the map.