[OSM-talk] Classifying Ways worldwide (was: Numbers and i18n)

[Joerg Ostertag (OSM Munich/Germany)]

...

> If we are seeking a purely physical description of the roads then shouldn't
> there be a separate key for each aspect of the road.  The following would
> describe one carriageway of a motorway:
> lanes=3
> width=18m
> breakdown_lane=yes
> oneway=yes
>
> And this would describe a Sydney lane:
> lane=1
> width=3m
>
> One problem with this is that there is no easy way to accurately measure
> the width of a road with a GPS unit.  Maybe the width attribute should
> allow units other than metres (1 car, 2 trucks, 1 person), or approximate
> values 0-5m, 5-10m, or even comparative values: very narrow, narrow,
> normal, wide, very wide.

I would restrict the field to meters. Since this way we have a chance of 
making use of it in automatic processing.
And give the user some hints to enter data:
 1m   for bikes and Foot only ;-)
 3m   one car(narrow)
 3,5m one car easily
 4    one truck 
 7m   two cars narrow
 ...

-
Joerg