[Tagging] Meaning of access=yes on highway=footway?

[Greg Troxel]

Raphael <dafadllyn at gmail.com> writes:

> I recently got lost with OsmAnd because it wanted to guide me by car
> along a (public) footpath (highway=footway) tagged with acces=yes. Is
> this a routing or a tagging error? That is, does access=yes on
> highway=footway mean that the footpath is open to all vehicles or that
> only pedestrians are allowed?

I think it is both a tagging error and a router error.

It's a tagging error because surely vehicles are not permitted on
highway=footway.

Generally, I would say that access=yes is very often, maybe almost
always, wrong as a tag.

But, it is also a routing error because highway=footway defines a way on
which a human could walk (phsyically, setting aside access rules).
Typically, they are too narrow for a passenger car.  A router should not
try to use them, even if access is ok, unless there is some width tag of
>= 2m (2.5m the US - taking the GB view :-).

Basically I'm saying that a router should only use a way if both are
true:
  - the way is physically suitable
  - the permissions are ok

(Also highway=path should not be presumed to be passable by vehicles;
often it is too uneven or too rocky.)
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