[Tagging] Can highway=cycleway be limited to MTB?

[Andrew Harvey]

On Thu, 2 Apr 2020 at 20:12, Volker Schmidt <voschix at gmail.com> wrote:

> If a highway is mtb:scale=2 it is definitely not a cycleway. It is a
> highway=path with mtb:scale=2
> If this were to encounter a "cycleway" with mtb:scale=2 , I would consider
> this an error and retag it as highway=path without hesitation.
>

But highway=path is for unspecified, mixed use or generic paths. A
designated mountain bike track is not that, it's a path specifically for
bicycles.

If mountain bike tracks should be tagged as highway=path, then the
definition of path needs to be changed to not be an unspecified or mixed
use path.


> I agree, that this is not explicitly stated in the bicycle wiki page, and
> should be added there, but I would assume that this is the common
> understanding. Anything else would cause major problems with the huge stock
> of existing highway=cycleway in OSM that have no mtb:scale tag. Routers for
> non-MTB bicycles would all need to change and evaluate the mtb:scale tag.
>
> There is already a similar problem with the OpenCycleMap rendering in the
> sense that it renders a dedicated cycle path in the same way as a path with
> bicycle=yes. This has the effect that many MTB friends have added
> bicycle=yes to "normal" hiking paths to make them appear as MTB friendly on
> the map, but also with the problem that when I look at that map I wrongly
> see a cycle paths where I would never be able to pass with my loaded
> touring bike.
>

That would be a rendering issue, since bicycle=yes is merely an access tag
saying you're allowed to ride a bicycle here, it makes no statement on if
you need a mountain bike/more skills or not.


> Please keep paths that can only be used by MTB clearly different from
> cycleways that can be used non-MTB bicycles.
>

I always assumed that's what the mtb:*=* tags were for, but smoothness= is
also suitable here since it even lists specific types of bicycles which
would be suitable http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:smoothness
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