[Tagging] Reviving the path discussion - the increasing, importance of trails in OSM

[brad]

On 5/31/20 3:34 AM, Daniel Westergren wrote:
> Ok, I took the liberty of drafting a proposal for a general 
> description of how to map pathways (that is, all highways that are not 
> for motor-vechicles). See 
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/10PtBPFDW3EHrBHl5sy8L-_5a0xNR1w-9YXt-gmfMB_M/edit?usp=sharing 
>
>
> I find the wiki terrible for collaborations like this, as is the wiki 
> discussion. I've therefore used Google Docs, although I realize not 
> all are happy with that. The document is open for anyone with the link 
> to view and comment and depending on what people say we can move this 
> to another platform if needed. And the end result obviously needs to 
> be in the wiki.
>
> I divided the mapping/tagging of pathways into:
>
>  1. function (highway=footway|cycleway|path)
>  2. legal access (access=*)
>  3. usability (surface, smoothness & width, basically to denote
>     usability for people of ordinary ability)
>  4. technicality (trail_visibility, sac_scale, mtb:scale and a
>     possible hiking difficulty tag, basically to describe a ways
>     difficulty in more detail)
>  5. additional tags (that I don't really see the use for, such as
>     informal=yes/no and incline)
>
> Comments are welcome. Is this a good start to clarify this mess?
>
I think the reason that this is so messed up because of the desire to 
tag according to function.   A trail/path can have many users/functions, 
but it's still a dirt path.   Don't forget dirt bikes & ATV's (<50 
inchs, 127 cm) in this assessment.  Many trails are open to, and used 
by, everyone including motor vehicles.    Perhaps this just means that 
footway & cycleway are non-motorized, and path could be.

The sermon that keeps getting repeated is don't tag for the renderer.   
We shouldn't tag for a lousy renderer, but we should tag for the user & 
sometimes the rules laid down are wrong.

I'm OK with taking this off this list & I can add my comments to the 
google docs doc.
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