[Talk-GB] Possibly using "highway=path" for country footpaths

[Steve Hill]

On Fri, 3 Apr 2009, Ed Loach wrote:

> I'm beginning personally to think that
> highway=<footway/cycleway/bridleway> were all a mistake and that
> highway=path and designation=public_footpath/etc, along with
> suitable access keys (foot, bicycle, etc) would have been a better
> starting point

I think even that is a bit too high level.  You don't really need to 
specify whether it is a path, road, etc - all we should really care about 
is what sort of traffic can use it (i.e. "motorcar=yes|no|designated", 
etc.)  From this you can easilly work out what *sort* of way it is (i.e. 
if it allows pedestrians and no one else, clearly it is a footway; if it 
allows cars then it is a road, etc).  Any extra attributes are a bonus - 
width, surface, classification (e.g. for roads this might be "motorway", 
"primary", "secondary", etc.).  Similarly, things like whether the road is 
in a residential area should be an extra attribute, not a fundamental 
classification of the way.

However, mistake or not, we have what we have and making fundamental 
changes doesn't seem especially likely (I have in the past made 
suggestions regarding the fundamental data structure and have been met 
with nothing but sarcastic replies and put-downs - I find it quite 
depressing that no one seems interested in even thinking about any 
revolutionary changes instead of just continuing down a potentially 
dead-end route.  See my brain-dump on the wiki: 
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User_talk:Steve_Hill)

  - Steve
    xmpp:steve at nexusuk.org   sip:steve at nexusuk.org   http://www.nexusuk.org/

      Servatis a periculum, servatis a maleficum - Whisper, Evanescence