[OSM-newbies] highway shapefiles - how to translate road types?

[Andre Engels]

On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 12:04 AM, Guillaume Mauger <gmauger at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> I have a follow-up question to my earlier newbie question regarding getting
> the shapefiles. I now have them (thanks!) and am working on interpreting the
> "highway" (contains all roads) shapefile.
>
> Below is the list of road-types contained in the shapefiles (18 different
> categories in all).
>
> Where can I find information that defines what all of these terms mean?
> Specifically, I just need to know which roads can be driven on, and which
> cannot.

Here are my ideas about what the various roads mean. Specific tags
about car accessibility (access = ..., motorcar = ...) always trump
the highway tag. I'll change the order some to get the major groups
together and in order

'Normal' roads, from highest to lowest grade:

>     'motorway'

Minimum two lanes per direction, separate lanes for the directions,
all crossings uneven, highest maximum speed, part of a national
numbering scheme.

>     'trunk'

Connections with other roads are usually uneven; slow traffic
(bicycles, tractors) are not allowed; often but not always separated
lanes; part of a national numbering scheme

>     'primary'

Major connecting road between towns or between a city and the rest of
the world. Minor roads and single houses usually don't connect to it.

>     'secondary'

Connecting road between towns or between a city and the rest of the
world. When connected to other roads it has priority.

>     'tertiary'

Any road that is not 'big' enough to be secondary, but is still used
for interlocal or (in cities) interquarter traffic.

>     'residential'

A road inside a village, town or city, the primary purpose of which is
to connect houses to the road net.

>     'unclassified'

The equivalent of a residential road outside urban areas (although
here in the Netherlands because of the way the AND-data were imported,
most residential roads are actually specified as unclassified as well)

>     'service'

Anything that looks like a road, but that one would not necessarily
expect to have its own road name. Usually can be driven on. I myself
mostly use it for entrances to parking lots and similar.

>     'track'

An unsurfaced road, usually broad enough to drive a car (otherwise I
would classify it a path), but whether it can actually be driven
depends on the road surface and the type of car.

Links:

>     'motorway_link'

A piece of road connecting a motorway to another road

>     'trunk_link'

Connection between a trunk road and another road, the other road not
being a highway

>     'primary_link'

Connection between a primary road and another road, the other road not
being a highway or trunk road.

>     'secondary_link'

Connection between a secondary road and another road, the other road
not being a highway, trunk or primary road.

Pedestrian roads:

>     'pedestrian'

A road inside a city, closed off for most traffic to allow use by
pedestrians. Driving on it would be possible if somehow you got on,
but it is not allowed.

>     'footway'

A road or surfaced path specifically designed to walk on. Driving on
it is not allowed, and usually not possible.

>     'path'

Anything used to walk or drive on that is not built or maintained as a
road. In most cases an unsurfaced walking path. Not suitable to car
traffic.

Others:

>     'Driveway'

I don't think this one is standard

>     'road'

The type of road is unknown to the person who entered it into OSM


-- 
André Engels, andreengels at gmail.com