Waze is brilliant (when it is not being stoopid)

Back when navigation systems first became popular we had a lunch table discussion about their virtues at work. I remember making the point that someone with local knowledge of traffic patterns would make better decisions than a system which solely relied on a map and posted speed limits. I cited cabbies and fire truck drivers in Manhattan as examples.

Of course, technology marched on and it was not long before two major changes to navigation systems came along; First, real time traffic conditions were added to the decision making process, improving the initial selection of the route and facilitating detours around backups during travel. Second, the storing of historical traffic patterns on a server allowed apps such as Waze and Google Maps to estimate travel times based on time of day and day of the week thus leading to the selection of a better route.

Yet with all of the improvements, my original contention that local knowledge trumps navigation technology still holds true. I use Waze to navigate and have found that it makes both good decisions and stoopid decisions.

The most common stoopid decision on my way to work occurs as I approach the intersection of Algonquin Road and Old Sutton Road heading east. The straight forward way for me to get to work at that point is to continue east to Barrington Road and turn south towards work. Waze however often suggests that in order to save one minute I turn right on Old Sutton Road and take a zig zag route additionally using Penny Road, Route 59, and Route 72. The problem with Waze's suggestion is that the Old Sutton Road route includes a two way stop sign crossing of a high volume 55 MPH two lane highway plus a subsequent grade crossing of the Canadian National railroad tracks. Getting blocked by a slow moving freight train is not fun. My preferred alternate, which is to continue straight on Algonquin Road to Barrington Road, has no stop signs and a bridge over the railroad tracks. When I ignore Waze and it recalculates there is at most a one minute time difference and often no time difference between the two routes.

My ride home features Waze suggesting a similar reversal of the route. The left turn from Old Sutton Road onto Algonquin at a stop sign is pretty much a killer during the evening rush hour with continuous streams of cars on Algonquin Road from both the left and right. Nobody in their right mind would take Waze's route and attempt that left turn however Waze suggests it every commute home.

Waze's stoopid decisions are not limited to my commute and perhaps you have noticed some of the same blunders:

Waze frequently takes me to a tough left turn at a stop sign when I could have been on a nearby parallel road allowing me to make the left turn at a traffic signal.

Waze has routed me on roads that are closed to through traffic due to construction.

Waze has routed me on roads which are marked by signage as having no though traffic allowed.

On a commute home last winter when the roads were icy and traffic was slowed Waze came up with a clever route that was less traveled. It was less traveled because it included a road with a dangerous steep hill that nobody in their right mind would drive on when icy. Some times faster is not better.

Despite all of this I do like Waze and use it frequently go get from here to there. I'll take some stoopid decisions over the good old days of navigating by maps.