[OSM-talk] How do I tag this road in OSM

[Christoph Burghardt]

> I understand ways of a method to easily add tags that a lot of segments
> have in common, mainly to assign a name and ref. Tags in specific segments
> should override the values given in the way.

If ways are so defined, good. But it should be documented somewhere. And
is the API aware of this? If i ask for a segment, does it combine the tags
of the ways?
 
> Ways are also a method to apply several - otherwise incompatible - tags
> to one specific set of segments, i.e. a road that includes a cycleway
> and tram tracks, perhaps a bus route and which is part of a hiking
> route. It would be pointless (and rather chaotic) to create segments all
> on the same spot, facing in the same direction.
> 
I don't see any problems to tag a segment with cycleway, bus route, tram
tracks.. i know several bigger streets which include all types you
mentioned.  Why should cylcleway, tram and highway be incompatible tags?
 

> Software using OSM data will be faster if ways can be used to simplify
> things; A map renderer will have a hard time figuring out where to print
> street names without ways: every segment has to be looked at, and
> followed until a different name comes up. Imagine a route planner that
> would have to look at every segment on a motorway. Assumptions can be
> made looking at ways and later verified using the segments.

A map renderer will have a hard time render the underlying way without
getting every segment. There are even ways which some segments are
detached. And if you have a very looong way (think of the motorway)
you want to print the name of the way more than once. So you need to
figure out the grouped segments anyway. 

As written in my other post, i don't want to remove ways. But in my eyes,
there are a fast index to group segments together. No need to create ways
manually.

> Ways are broken at the moment, at least longer ones; See
> http://trac.openstreetmap.org/ticket/214
> 
That reminds me of a problem i experienced myself in JOSM. I created a way
and added afterwards a new segment. depending on which segment i select, i
get the longer new way or the older, short way. Another reason to generate
these ways automatically.

Christoph