[Tagging] railway=platform nodes at tram stops

[Kevin Kenny]

On Tue, Feb 20, 2018 at 3:17 PM, Selfish Seahorse
<selfishseahorse at gmail.com> wrote:
> iD's new 'Tram Stop / Platform' preset adds a `railway=platform` tag
> even on nodes. I thought this were a bug [^1], but the wiki [^2] says:
>
>> platforms: `public_transport=platform` + `railway=platform` If the platform is just a pole with a sign and the tram stops on the road without a physical platform, use a single node to map the "platform".
>
> It seems wrong to me to tag a tram stop (not the stop position) with
> `railway=platform` if there is no platform, but only a sidewalk or not
> even that. (It's strange enough already that
> `public_transport=platform` doesn't mean 'platform' when used on a
> node.) Besides, the wiki is contradictory, because according to the
> wiki page about `railway=platform` [^3], this tag should not be used
> on nodes.
>
> If no one objects, I'd like to change the wiki page [^1] so that
> `railway=platform` should not be used on nodes.

Since the Wiki defines the 'platform' as 'the place where passengers
wait for the vehicle', it doesn't have to be anything in particular. A
patch of sidewalk could indeed be a light rail 'platform'.

Also, it's pretty common to permit nodes as surrogates for area
features when the area is not known, not surveyed, not determinate,
... It's been a common practice in some quarters to drop in a node
that means, "I know there is a building/park/whatever here" and then
replace it with the area feature when the footprint is known. In some
cases, the boundary of the area is indefinite - how close to the post
you stand at a bus stop is up to you and your ability to catch the
driver's eye.