<html>
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
  </head>
  <body>
    The ground/dirt/earth distinctions are redundant & confusing.  
    All the choices for surface seem like too many choices.   A typical
    backroad or trail around here varies quite a bit along the way, it
    could be natural dirt & rock, it could be very rocky, there may
    be a little gravel put down a while ago.  Oftentimes unpaved is the
    best tag (along with smoothness).<br>
    <br>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/17/21 12:48 PM, Mateusz Konieczny
      via Tagging wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:MYW9RhW--3-2@tutanota.com">
      <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
      <div>Yes, I changed it recently on Wiki to document actual use.<br>
      </div>
      <div><br>
      </div>
      <div>See <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Map_Features:surface&diff=2123632&oldid=2121665"
          moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Map_Features:surface&diff=2123632&oldid=2121665</a><br>
      </div>
      <div>
        <div>and<br>
        </div>
        <div><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Tag:surface%3Dgravel&action=history"
            moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/index.php?title=Tag:surface%3Dgravel&action=history</a><br>
        </div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>More improvements likely would be useful,<br>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div>it seems to me that dirt and earth descriptions at <br>
      </div>
      <div><a
          href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Template:Map_Features:surface"
          moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Template:Map_Features:surface</a><br>
      </div>
      <div>-- that is displayed at <a
          href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface"
          moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface</a>
        <br>
      </div>
      <div>are also mismatching actual use).<br>
      </div>
      <div><br>
      </div>
      <div><br>
      </div>
      <div>Apr 17, 2021, 19:51 by <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:bradhaack@fastmail.com">bradhaack@fastmail.com</a>:<br>
      </div>
      <blockquote class="tutanota_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid
        #93A3B8; padding-left: 10px; margin-left: 5px;">
        <div>I'm also one of those who has tagged many gravel roads as
          gravel. <br>
        </div>
        <div> The description on the wiki there now seems good to me:<br>
        </div>
        <div> "This tag has very large meaning range. Used for cases
          ranging from huge gravel pieces like track ballast used as
          surface, through small pieces of gravel to compacted surface."<br>
        </div>
        <div> I didn't see that it was changed recently?<br>
        </div>
        <div> It sounds like the tag is used consistently with the way
          most people think of a gravel road.   It sounds like this is
          true not just in my area, but worldwide?   <br>
        </div>
        <div> <br>
        </div>
        <div> <br>
        </div>
        <div> <br>
        </div>
        <div class="">On 4/16/21 1:44 AM, Mateusz Konieczny via Tagging
          wrote:<br>
        </div>
        <blockquote type="cite">
          <div>The problem is that basically all surface=gravel
            mismatched supposed definition.<br>
          </div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div>So pretending that surface=gravel is anything else except
            "any kind of gravel, small<br>
          </div>
          <div>or large" would be pointless.<br>
          </div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div>I would rather invent new values less likely to be
            misinterpreted<br>
          </div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div>Something like<br>
          </div>
          <div>surface=track_ballast (?) / surface=huge_gravel (?) /
            surface=ballast / surface=rubble (???)<br>
          </div>
          <div>for <a
href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg"
              rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
              moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg</a><br>
          </div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div>And surface=small_gravel or something else for <br>
          </div>
          <div><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Gravel_road,_car_in_viewfield_for_scale.jpg"
              moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Gravel_road,_car_in_viewfield_for_scale.jpg</a><br>
          </div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div>And rersurvey, with retagging to more precise values
            (surface=gravel is still useful, <br>
          </div>
          <div>as surface=unpaved may be also for example surface=sand)<br>
          </div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div>Apr 16, 2021, 08:41 by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener
              noreferrer" class="" href="mailto:voschix@gmail.com"
              moz-do-not-send="true">voschix@gmail.com</a>:<br>
          </div>
          <blockquote class="tutanota_quote" style="border-left: 1px
            solid #93A3B8; padding-left: 10px; margin-left: 5px;">
            <div dir="auto">
              <div>I acknowledge there is a problem. I started out
                putting "gravel" on many maintained unpaved roads, only
                to look up the wiki some years later. I know use
                "fine_gravel" (taginfo 170k uses), which broadly
                corrisponds to the "gravel" of "gravel bikes". <br>
              </div>
              <div dir="auto">So, yes,  most of my "gravel" roads are
                really "fine_gravel", but I have no idea how widespread
                it is, and also how much it depends of the mapper's
                mother tongue.<br>
              </div>
              <div dir="auto">I would not redefine the value "gravel",
                rather put a warning on the page, pointing out that we
                have this wide spread confusion, and invite mappers to
                consider "fine_gravel".<br>
              </div>
            </div>
            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div class="">
              <div class="" dir="ltr">Il Gio 15 Apr 2021, 10:00 Mateusz
                Konieczny via Tagging <<a
                  href="mailto:tagging@openstreetmap.org" rel="noopener
                  noreferrer" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">tagging@openstreetmap.org</a>>
                ha scritto:<br>
              </div>
              <blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc
                solid;padding-left:1ex" class="">
                <div>
                  <div>For long time this tag was described at
                    Key:surface page as <br>
                  </div>
                  <div>"Broken/crushed rock with sharp edges, known as
                    ballast on railways. Usually loosely arranged.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>Typical size for road and surface construction
                    range between 4 and 8 cm".<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>( <a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
                      href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface</a>
                    )<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>But it turns out that surface=gravel is primarily
                    used for roads where far smaller <br>
                  </div>
                  <div>pieces of rocks are used.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>It is result of <br>
                  </div>
                  <div>- "gravel roads" term is often used in many
                    countries for something where far smaller pieces<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>  of rock are used, some of such roads would
                    qualify for surface=compacted.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>  See <a rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      target="_blank"
                      href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Gravelsign2.jpg"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Gravelsign2.jpg</a><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>- "gravel" and equivalent terms in other
                    languages is often used by people to refer to pieces<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>  of rock far smaller than 4cm<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>- there was not good tag for roads with surface
                    of small loose gravel <br>
                  </div>
                  <div>  (surface=fine_gravel at <a rel="noopener
                      noreferrer" target="_blank"
                      href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface</a>
                    has<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>  "A multilayer pavement with a stone or gravel
                    basis and a topmost surface of firm, granular grit,<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>  basalt or quartz," what anyway excluded cases
                    of some gravel thrown on earth/mud/drt )<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>- surfaces matching old Wiki definitions are
                    existing but really rare <br>
                  </div>
                  <div>  <a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg</a><br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>How one may know that Wiki definition mismatches
                    actual use?<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>assumption:<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>Surfacing roads/paths/etc with track
                    ballast-sized pieces of gravel is extremely rare<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>(though it happens)<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>but in actual use surface=gravel is extremely
                    common, far more common that<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>old Wiki definition.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>So actual use clearly mismatches wiki definition.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>In addition, many people using surface=gravel
                    were unaware of this definition and unaware<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>that such surfaces described in Wiki actually
                    exist!<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>See <a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-au/2021-March/014445.html"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-au/2021-March/014445.html</a><br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>So:<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>It turns out that surface=gravel is for anything
                    from "basically compacted" to<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>"basically track ballast".<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>I recommend checking <a rel="noopener
                      noreferrer" target="_blank"
                      href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface</a>
                    in your language<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>and updating definition to match actual tag use.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>It would be nice to find some good tagging for
                    surfaces like<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg</a><br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>surface=track_ballast? surface=huge_gravel?
                    surface=ballast?<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>It would be also nice to find some more specific
                    values for <br>
                  </div>
                  <div>cases of small gravel thrown on mud/dirt/grass -
                    as surface=gravel<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>turns out to be very unspecific ability to tag
                    this in detail would be great<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>(useful especially for cyclists)<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>surface=small_gravel? Something else?<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>PS AAAARAGAGAHHA. Tag used over 1.5 million times
                    had actual use and OSM Wiki<br>
                  </div>
                  <div>definition completely and utterly mismatched.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>And we need new tags and resurvey of 1 500 000
                    elements to have useful information about surface.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>Right now surface=gravel may be both <br>
                  </div>
                  <div><a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:%C5%A0t%C4%9Brkov%C3%A1_cesta_u_Pl%C3%A1%C5%A1t%C3%ADku.jpg</a><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>and<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
                      href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Gravelsign2.jpg"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Gravelsign2.jpg</a><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>that for many purposes are worth distinguishing.<br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>Arghhh.<br>
                  </div>
                </div>
                <div>_______________________________________________<br>
                </div>
                <div>Tagging mailing list<br>
                </div>
                <div><a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
                    href="mailto:Tagging@openstreetmap.org"
                    moz-do-not-send="true">Tagging@openstreetmap.org</a><br>
                </div>
                <div><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
                    href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging"
                    moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging</a><br>
                </div>
              </blockquote>
            </div>
          </blockquote>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <pre class="" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Tagging mailing list
<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="" href="mailto:Tagging@openstreetmap.org" moz-do-not-send="true">Tagging@openstreetmap.org</a>
<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="" href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging" moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging</a>

</pre>
        </blockquote>
      </blockquote>
      <div><br>
      </div>
      <br>
      <fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
      <pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Tagging mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Tagging@openstreetmap.org">Tagging@openstreetmap.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging</a>
</pre>
    </blockquote>
    <br>
  </body>
</html>