[Talk-GB] Private tracks through a farmyard

[Martin Wynne]

I have some sympathy for OS here.

They are importing OSM ways tagged as highway=footway and highway=track.

In ordinary UK English, a "highway" means as a communal resource, 
generally accessible to all. In most dictionaries the first definition 
of "highway" is "a public road that all may use".

In the UK landowners do not refer to their private roads and paths as 
highways.

But in OSM the only way to tag a private way is as a highway, which 
leads to such nonsense as my garden path being called a highway, should 
I wish to map it.

OS are presumably seeing ways in OSM tagged as "highway" and applying 
their traditional meaning to them.

At present they are not importing any roads, presumably because they 
regard their existing road coverage as more accurate or complete. So one 
way for the farmer to remove his private track from the OS app would be 
to re-tag it as a service road, with service=driveway.

At least for the UK, OSM needs a different tag from "highway" for 
private roads, tracks and paths. This would also be a great help for 
routing apps.

Martin.