[Tagging] Feature Proposal - RFC - value 'basic_network' - cycle_network?

[stevea]

Thank you, Brian.  I agree that this (network=lcn) or tagging ways as lcn=yes can identify them.  I believe further tagging with cycle_network "rounds out / completes" the process for any query that might be made upon the entire universe of set completion bicycle-oriented ways.

What would "remain broken" if (Germany) tagged (additionally) with exactly these two methods?  Yes, there wouldn't be a "single tag that could be grabbed" (by a query, by a renderer...), but that isn't necessary.  (It is lazy, "syntactic sugar").  I don't point fingers at any particular person, culture, nation or anything like that as I use the word lazy, I simply don't want to see it being extended and going forward (in a continuing, even worse, way).  Preventing poor syntax via questionable tagging proposals in OSM is why I am such a passionate contributor to this mail-list.

On Nov 27, 2021, at 4:48 PM, Brian M. Sperlongano <zelonewolf at gmail.com> wrote:
> I see this as very simple - we have a tag for this, network=lcn[1].  These ways are all part of a local cycling network, so tag them that way.
> 
> The wiki page for network=lcn indicates that this should be tagged on route relations, however, I note 2,500 usages of that tag on ways.  While this is small compared to the 38,000 usages on relations, it's clearly in use on ways directly.  I would propose to solve this problem quite simply by updating the documentation to reflect this real-world usage -- network=lcn is is being used on ways, and could be tagged directly on highway=cycleway features.
> 
> If you want to query for the "basic network", now you just query for highway=cycleway + network=lcn.
> 
> [1] https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:network=lcn

There IS some documentation [1] that says we document EITHER lcn=yes on the ways that make up the collection of the route OR put them into a route relation tagged lcn=yes.  To quote / paraphrase it directly:

"OSM ways so signed (as local bike routes) should be tagged lcn=yes, either directly or as members of a network=lcn relation tagged lcn=yes."

This (wiki) documentation has been around for at least eight, possibly ten years.  Yes, one is a minority case, the other is a majority case.  However, both sets are large enough to say "we already do this."

[1] https://wiki.osm.org/wiki/United_States/Bicycle_Networks#Local