[Tagging] Difference between "yes" and "designated" in access tags (was: Re: How to Tag Steps in a Bridleway)

[stevea]

On Apr 29, 2024, at 6:15 PM, Natfoot <natfoot at gmail.com> wrote:
> But if a trail, road, or cycle tract does not have route markers for use then no route=*  even if designated. 
> -natfoot

I'm nodding my head so far at what I see here.  I appreciate Natfoot's reminder about routes:  we're not exactly talking about routes here and now, though there is some overlap that happens in people's minds with routes and infrastructure, sometimes naming, so it's good to say these things out loud once in a while so people understand we've had a lot of conversations about these topics.  It's good to bubble it all back up and out again as we come to agreement.  (Like here and now).

I agree "signposted" either implies or means (legally) "designated for that mode-of-travel," in the colloquial usage of the word "designated" which my dictionary matches here with "officially assigned a specified status."

I do a fair bit of bicycle routing:  bicycle=yes is not needed on highway=cycleway, but could disambiguate whether bicycle traffic is allowed on a parallel roadway, while bicycle=yes is not the same as bicycle=designated:  regardless of how you think you might route through here as a cyclist, the bicycle=designated, for example, highway=cycleway means "signs, paint, law indicate cyclists should or must use this infrastructure."  The bicycle=yes tag means it is allowed, nothing more than that.