[Tagging] Route names being applied to tracks/paths

[Zeke Farwell]

On Fri, Dec 30, 2022 at 2:51 PM Dave F via Tagging <
tagging at openstreetmap.org> wrote:

> I think this inconsistency is bad for OSM.
>
> Many ways don't have names, even if they have routes along them. They are
> just footpaths, & tracks etc.
>
> This instance on giving them a name tag is fake. It'll mean sections with
> one route will have their name tag rendered, but where additions routes
> join there will be no rendering.
>
> If multiple routes are of equal standing, but you insist on adding a name
> tag to the way, how do you decide which takes precedent?
>
> This thread reinforces my belief there's a lack of understand of route
> relations' purpose.
>

Perhaps an example will help.  Here is a bike path in my town:

https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/14781095

The name is Burlington Greenway.  It is mostly a dedicated bike path, but
it also uses residential streets for a few short sections.  The purpose
built ways have name="Burlington Greenway".  The residentials streets do
not get tagged with that name but instead the name of the street ("Austin
Drive", "Proctor Place",  "Harrison Avenue") because they are first and
foremost residential streets, not bike paths.  Because of these shared
street sections, a route relation is appropriate.  The route relation also
gets name="Burlington Greenway".  All the sections of this route are also
included in three other longer bicycle routes:

https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/72012
https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/5508467
https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/2328456

Why do the dedicated bike path ways get the name "Burlington Greenway"
instead of "Island Line Trail", "Champlain Bikeway", "USBR 7"?  Because
that is the most local name and most of the signage you'll see says
Burlington Greenway, not those other names.

This type of situation may not be common (or exist at all) in some parts of
the world, but in my region it is quite common.  I can certainly understand
that there are places where paths are considered nameless locally despite a
longer distance named route following them.  This is fine and in that case
adding the route name to the way is clearly wrong.  However, in the example
above, putting the name Burlington Greenway on the bike path ways is not
fake.
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