[Tagging] highway=path for *all* mixed foot/bicycle highways?
Andy Townsend
ajt1047 at gmail.com
Mon Jan 27 20:42:16 UTC 2020
On 27/01/2020 17:19, Dave F via Tagging wrote:
>
>
> On 27/01/2020 16:41, Mike Thompson wrote:
>>
>> I have never understood the use of tags like "cycleway", "bridleway",
>> and
>> "footway." To me these mix two different concepts (physical form and
>> legal
>> access) in a single tag.
>
> These values do not indicate a way's form. That is achieved with
> secondary, adjective tags such as segregated/width/surface/smoothness
> etc.
>
Sure they do - by inference at least.
If a "cyclebridlefootpath"* was constructed "mainly for cycle traffic"
than it'll tend to have a certain form. It'll probably not have a
surface of lumpy rocks. Something constructed "mainly for horse
traffic" won't have stiles (other than horse stiles) on it. Of course,
it absolutely makes sense to add secondary tags such as surface etc. as
well. It's not guaranteed that "everywhere in the world a cycleway will
have this physical form" but if you know what the norm is for things
constructed for cycle traffic in whatever country you're in, you've got
an idea what to expect, even without extra tags.
Re access, in England, I'd also always add access tags where possible
too, since unlike some other places, there's nothing like
"allemansrätten" here, and it's quite possible for access to be
"permissive" or "no" rather than "yes", and where access is "yes" it's
useful to know why (here usually some other legal designation that
confers that access).
To get back to the main question, the advice I'd give to people mapping
cyclebridlefootpaths in their local country is "do whatever other people
in your country do". That might vary between "use highway=path for
almost everything**" and "use duck tagging - pick what something most
resembles", but if someone follows the local herd at least other people
locally should understand what they mean.
Best Regards,
Andy
* one of any of what anyone might tag as highway=cycleway,
highway=bridleway, highway=footway, highway=path.
** obviously highway=path with no other tags is pretty useless - there
are no clues about either access or form there at all.
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