[Tagging] Deprecate ref=* on ways

[Rob Savoye]

On 6/2/25 4:58 PM, Paul Johnson wrote:

> It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start formally deprecating ref=* 
> on ways.  Ref to describe routes on ways violates the "one object, one 
> OSM entity guideline," and is one of the reasons relations were 
> created as a primitive in OSM in the first place.  If the ref=* on 
> ways dinosaur was allowed to die the death it should have 15 years ago.

I'm not sure if this would be an improvement for those of us focused on 
mapping in remote areas. In the US, many of these were imported into OSM 
from TIGER ages ago, others traced using imagery. In OSM there is a 
large percentage where the highway geometry is completely wrong, going 
the wrong way at a fork. After fixing the geometries, and updating the 
name and USFS refs here's my question. USFS refs change frequently, 
often at every intersection, but then name stays the same. The name 
would I assume be the relation name, but making each member way (with no 
tags) in the relation could loose the USFS reference, which is actually 
important. In that case the route relation could have the name, but each 
way would need the ref. And some have multiple refs, USFS, and country 
or state, but the name is the same. Out here in the western US, the USFS 
and BLM refs are super important for those of us responding to 
emergencies in these remote areas for wildland fires or backcountry rescues.

I have not seen this problem mapping in other countries, so maybe this 
is a US only problem, but I don't think we can depreciate refs til we 
have a solution for his issue. Suggestions appreciated.

- rob -

-- 
https://www.senecass.com
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