[OSM-talk] Bus stops

[Alex S.]

Lachlan Rogers wrote:
> It would make sense to do something similar to what is often done
> with amenity=fuel nodes.  You can place the bus stop node off the
> main highway way on the correct side.  Then simply connect it to
> the main way with two segments in a short oneway=yes highway=service
> way. 
> 
> This would both make it clear which side of the road the bus stop was 
> on, and also make it obvious (to human readers and 
> autorouting-utilities) that the bus stop was connected to the main 
> highway way.

I agree it's similar, but it's certainly not the same thing.  For fuel, 
you *must* drive off the main road to get to it.  However, for buses, 
the stop is usually either directly adjacent to or merely across a short 
section of sidewalk.  The buses themselves stop on the street or in a 
turnout.

Someone mentioned a short while back the idea of an 'offset' tag for 
nodes which are in-line with a way, but the icons are meant to be beside 
the way.  IMHO, this would be a better solution than making a 
non-existent way for the purpose.  Perhaps even with a directional 
indicator.

Examples:
highway=bus_stop, offset=right  (looking along the direction of the 
segments)
highway=bus_stop, offset=left, direction=-1
highway=bus_stop, offset=both  (two stops that are directly across the 
street from one another)