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

[Mark Wagner]

On Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:01:21 +0100
Dave F via Tagging <tagging at openstreetmap.org> wrote:

> On 23/04/2022 21:41, Raphael wrote:
> > Hello everyone
> >
> > That is, does access=yes on
> > highway=footway mean that the footpath is open to all vehicles  
> 
> No.
> 
> The primary/operative tag is highway=footway.
> That, by itself, legally excludes motor vehicles. If motor vehicles
> are permitted along a way then it is /not/ a footway.
> 
> That there are entitles with access=yes on a highway=footway doesn't 
> mean the usage is correct.

Taken to its logical extreme, this means there are no footways in the
United States: a motorized emergency vehicle is permitted to go
anywhere it can physically fit, which includes most footways.

Even ignoring that, there are edge cases where a blanket statement
leads to absurd mapping.  For example, the southern section of
https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/369583715 between the first and
second gates would be mapped as something like 'highway=residential,
bicycle=designated, horse=yes, foot=designated, motor_vehicle=no,
motor_vehicle:conditional=yes@"the owner of 4501 North Equestrian
Lane"', while the apparently-identical rest of it would be a cycleway.

I'm also aware of a number of single-track hiking trails that are kept
clear of brush so that a ranger in a pickup truck can access something
such as a monitoring station: does that mean these are no longer
'highway=path'?

-- 
Mark