[Talk-nz] NZ Path/Road Cycle Access Tag Improvements

Fri Aug 13 07:49:44 UTC 2021

Hey Wilson,

Some good points. I was thinking of starting to tackle the Welly region for some of this after I’ve tackled the public transport pain.

It makes me wonder if it’s possible to query the osm database to find paths and service roads that connect to public roads or other paths in two or more locations. That would help one narrow down a list of the most painful offenders. Sure, you’d end up with a big list but you could probably filter it even further if wanted.

Regards,

James.

From: Wilson Currie <wilsoncurrie2000 at gmail.com> 
Sent: Friday, 13 August 2021 10:44
To: talk-nz at openstreetmap.org
Subject: [Talk-nz] NZ Path/Road Cycle Access Tag Improvements

Morning.

I have become involved in OSM editing in the past 2 years, mainly due to the desire to have accurate & up to date local maps, as well as working to correctly update access & surface type tags on existing paths & roads to reflect their true status. Most of this editing has been in the Manawatu-Wanganui wider region.

My recent edits have been primarily for bike access tags (am a cyclist myself), as well as updating the path/road surface type details, as the core basemap of OSM is widely used by a number of cycling-related apps & sites for routing and for data tracking. Incorrect tags here can lead to errors & inaccurate data on these sites, and can potentially lead to dangerous routing errors for example, particularly for someone who doesn't know the area or is illequiped. Examples of apps using this OSM data, and being influenced by these errors is Strava, Komoot and Wandrer, among others.

Wandrer.earth (I suggest you check the site, it's pretty cool!) in particular is an interesting example of how inaccurate access type data can cause the overall/regional/local data to be significantly off and a false representation of the truely accessable & ridable roads/paths in a certain area. For a simple example, a hiking track such as the Rangiwahia Hut Track marked by default as having all access 'Yes' means this app determines this track is ridable, when in fact it is for the most narrow enough for one person only, let alone a bike. This access tag in my opinion should be updated, leaving the overall access as Yes (to reflect true public access status) but have the tags for Motor Vehicle, Cycling and Horse changed to 'No', or at the bare minimum 'Permit'. In the case of Wandrer, for many riders seeking to knock off local roads, a track like this with false tags would significantly prevent them from completely riding all the local "roads" in the area, unless they were aware of this problem discussed here and sought to edit & update the basemap themelves. From my past experiences with edits and how this is reflected in Wandrer in particular, a road must be marked as having the overall access 'Yes' to show on their map, and then the cycle access must be either "Yes", "Permissive" or "Designated".

While this is not a NZ only problem, and can be easily resolved - albeit taking a lot of time and local knowledge - the main issue lately is the increase in the number of driveways/service roads/accessways/"unmaintained track roads" and similar waytypes being added to the OSM map, with these faulty tags. Such paths are now linking main roads but have completely private only access, meaning unaware or unsespecting riders/walkers/runners may be sent by modern watches/bike computers along access ways that are not suitable or is trespassing.

This problem doesn't have an easy or quick fix, and will continue to be a problem as new and/or unaware OSM editors continue to add these new paths in, however hopefully a hightened awareness (if possible) of this problem may help to improve the true access rights of paths & roads in NZ moving forward.

Interested in thoughts and feedback.

W Currie

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