[Tagging] highway=services & "Road Stations" - subtag requested.

[John Willis]

Javbw

> On Jan 25, 2017, at 9:58 PM, Andy Townsend <ajt1047 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 25/01/2017 12:28, tomoya muramoto wrote:
>> I think "Michi-no-eki" is not a kind of highway=services,
>> because usually it does not have a car specific service, like a gas station or a car maintainance.
>> 
>> A typical Michi-no-eki has
>> * local food shop
>> * cafe
>> * tourist information
>> * 24/7 parking and toilet
> 
> In English, I'd call that a "rest area", personally.
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Andy
> 
> 
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If it were about resting, but it is much more focused on local tourism. I always felt it was more about getting out of the car, going to the bathroom, getting a drink, maybe some fresh hot food (noodles) and  buying a local souvenir food box to take home (ooh, Yuzu jelly snacks! Local wasabi !), getting a soft creame and then getting back on the road. Sometimes it is near a local POI, so you walk over and see the waterfall or the dam or the local culture museum. 

People drive from road station to road station on long trips, similar to SAs on the tollway.  

Tomoya is right - a road station is focused on the person, not the car. And it is for retail. But.... the "rest areas" I am familiar with are usually a toilet and a vending machine in a lonely parking lot. These road stations always remind me more of a service area - with nice toilets, shops, (sometimes) hot food, and souvenirs for sale to the drivers (and tourist busses) stopping by. It reminded me of an SA (which are huge malls with a food court now)  - but is a motorway=services defined by the gasoline stand? It seemed to be a retail space catering to motorists - just like these road stations - but with a gas stand too. 

I stop at SAs all the time. I never buy gas. We always stop for the toilet and some kind of food. 

I am not familiar enough with service/rest areas outside Japan then - most people in California get a lonely gas station at the exit ramp, maybe with a McDonald's - not a government designated spot to stop and buy local goods with a clean toilet and a soft creme machine. 

Thanks for the feedback so far !