[OSM-newbies] are roads driveable?

[Mike Harris]

Hi

I can't agree with Dave F's interpretation of the wiki for highway=track - see http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features#Highway where the definition is given as:

"Roads for agricultural use, gravel roads in the forest etc.; usually unpaved/unsealed but may occasionally apply to paved tracks as well, see tracktype=* for more guidance." 

This is the way in which I use it - and I thought that was relatively uncontroversial. I would use a sport key for a race track etc.

A path is never drivable by a mechanically-propelled vehicle - a track is usually drivable by at least some sort of mechanically-propelled vehicle, typically to the extent indicated by tracktype=

I do, however, completely agree with his comments on highway=unclassified (and highway=road) - where the former relates to minor roads in the countryside that are less important than highway=tertiary - whether or not they lead somewhere is subjective - they might be access roads only of no use to through traffic or they might be minor links between villages or over a mountain pass - but I would expect them to be drivable by a motor-car (not necessarily 4WD). Round here I use them all the time to get from A to B - if you know the road it is always shorter and often quicker than tackling the main roads!

Mike Harris
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave F. [mailto:davefox at madasafish.com] 
> Sent: 13 October 2009 11:33
> To: newbies at openstreetmap.org
> Subject: Re: [OSM-newbies] are roads driveable?
> 
> David ``Smith'' wrote:
> > On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 11:54 PM, Aspen Swartz 
> <aspendel at gmail.com> wrote:
> >   
> >> None of the categories are hard-and-fast, and especially 
> since it's a 
> >> user-generated map, your mileage on each road in your car may vary.
> >> Off the top of my head though, "footway", "path" and "pedestrian"
> >> probably won't take vehicles; "track" may only be suitable for 
> >> 4-wheel drive vehicles; and in rural areas "driveway" and 
> >> "residential" may not be free to access. "unclassified" 
> may be tagged 
> >> that way because the mapper didn't know the nature of the 
> road.  All 
> >> the other roadtypes look driveable to me.
> >>     
> >
> > I thought highway=track was meant for race tracks.
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dtrack
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:tracktype
> 
> >   Running, horse
> > racing, auto racing, that sort of thing. 
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:leisure
> >  Isn't that what the wiki
> > says?  If you're talking about a track left by occasional 
> passage of 
> > animals or vehicles where there's no road, I think that's what 
> > highway=path is for.
> >
> > Unclassified is a very poorly-named tag, because in reality 
> it is its 
> > own distinct classification.  It's used on mostly rural 
> roads that are 
> > driveable enough, but don't go anywhere useful to through 
> traffic and 
> > are not residential in nature.  If the mapper doesn't know 
> the nature 
> > of the road, it should be tagged highway=road.
> >
> >   
> 
> 
> 
>