Rhetorical question: is some of this the blame of infrastructure planners? It's probably simplistic, but I see two types of residential streets. There's the classic grid, and there's the windy roads where nothing goes anywhere. My experience is it's the latter, the windy roads, that feel like they have heavier traffic. My theory is the grids have so many options that everyone disperses over numerous roads while the winding roads have pinch point upon pinch point, funneling everyone toward and then onto the one road that actually goes somewhere. So I hesitate to blame Waze. Why did it funnel a couple hundred cars down a residential road? Because it couldn't funnel them down four parallel roads.
I don't think so. Residential streets shouldn't expect heavy traffic, and it's ridiculous to design them for it. I agree. The administration and legislators are to blame. Well, not "blame", they couldn't have anticipated this. But, They're the ones who need to solve this problem. Residential streets shouldn't need to be designed for heavy traffic, nor should it be illegal to tell people about shortcuts. The solution, besides adding capacity to main thoroughfares, is to create laws and systems to prevent abuse. For example, No Thru Traffic signs, speedbumps, and systems allowing residents to submit evidence of lawbreakers (because police can't patrol every residential street). And whatever else legislators and the administration (mayor, governor) can come up with. That's their job.is some of this the blame of infrastructure planners?
So I hesitate to blame Waze