[OSM-newbies] Pedestrian Crosswalk

[James Ewen]

On Sun, Apr 11, 2010 at 12:03 AM, Nick Austin <nick.w.austin at gmail.com> wrote:

> A crosswalk is just a single node with:
> highway=crossing
> crossing=uncontrolled.

Agreed... I know how to tag a crosswalk, just trying to clarify the
definition. The current definitions are very UK centric, and as such
are limited in their scope.

> In the UK the orange flashing lights are just warning beacons, there
> is no control of the crossing.

Uncontrolled crossings in Alberta are just that, uncontrolled.

There are unmarked crosswalks at every intersection by definition. I
am going to guess that these are not going to be marked and just
assumed by default.

There are other crosswalks that are marked with just paint on the road surface.

There are other crosswalks that are marked with paint on the road
surface, and signs indicating a crosswalk is present.

The last two examples are the types of crosswalks that I am looking
for the appropriate tag.

The next level of crossing here would be a crossing with pedestrian
controlled crossing lights. Again I will refer you to the streetview
example:  http://tinyurl.com/y8p4ex3

This crossing is signed, and has flashing yellow lights in the sign.
When the lights are flashing, the vehicular traffic must slow, and
give way to pedestrians. This I would consider a controlled crossing.
This seems the most similar to what is described as a zebra crossing,
as the description of a zebra crossing also says that the crossing has
flashing amber globes on poles.

In Alberta, the highway traffic act defines how the flashing yellow
lights must be obeyed.

(4)  When rapid intermittent flashes of yellow light are shown at a
place other than an intersection by a traffic control signal, the
driver of a vehicle approaching the signal may pass the signal only
with caution and shall yield the right of way to pedestrians in the
roadway or on a crosswalk, if any, in the vicinity of the signal.


 In the UK are these globes flashing continuously, or are they
controlled by the pedestrians? Does the vehicular traffic not have to
stop for the pedestrians? Perhaps the flashing yellow lights just warn
the drivers that they are approaching a zone where they may accumulate
dents, blood and bits of flesh on their vehicles.

> The UK uses animal names to describe crossing types:

Yup, got that figured out also...

> Zebra crossing = uncontrolled foot crossing

As above, the description in the wiki appears to be of a controlled crossing.

> Pelican crossing = light uncontrolled foot crossing

Actually wouldn't this be a controlled crossing? We have what appears
to be a similar type here, pedestrian controlled traffic signals. They
are a set of green/yellow/red signals, but only turn red after a
request by a pedestrian pushing the crosswalk button.

> Toucan crossing = light controlled foot+horse+bicycle crossing

Toucan is only pedestrians and cyclists... We don't have any of these
in Alberta. Cyclists are required to dismount to cross in an
crosswalk.

Pegasus includes horses, and this isn't the wild west where people
ride horses in town.

>From looking at the way that all these different types of crossings
are tagged, there is no real difference between any of them except
zebra. All the others are tagged as crossing:traffic_signals, and then
just have additional tags for permissions.

If I were creating the different tags, I would look at 3 types of
pedestrian crossings:

Uncontrolled crosswalk: may include a crossing with up to paint
markings on the road surface, and possibly signs.
Controlled crosswalk: paint markings on roadway, and pedestrian
requested flashing amber lights. (Zebra)
Pedestrian controlled traffic signals: full traffic signals controlled
by pedestrian request (Pelican/Toucan/Pegasus)

The last set just uses additional tags to identify the allowed user types.

Either the first or second example above is not represented in the
current crossing types available, depending upon whether you consider
a marked crosswalk with flashing amber lights to be controlled or not.

James
VE6SRV