[OSM-talk] highway=busway

[David Earl]

On 26/11/2007 23:26, Ulf Lamping wrote:
> I must admit, that this "feels" like railway=busway for me ...

I really don't think nuances of tag naming matter much, but I know it is 
the source of endless debate.

It's very much a hybrid, and there isn't really anything else like it. 
The Cambridgeshire system will be the biggest to date, but there are 
significant systems already operating in Adelaide, Australia and Essen, 
Germany. Most of the systems around the world operate on the principle 
of a shallow trough with horizontal wheels to keep the bus in the 
guideway, but the road running wheels run on a road-type surface.

So it is like a railway in that it has tracks, but it also has a road 
surface on which normal wheels run, and the stops are more like tram 
stops. But the vehicles leave the track at its ends to operate on normal 
roads - they are just normal buses with these small horizontal adapter 
wheels added. The vehicles aren't restricted to the guideway like trains 
and trams.

Other similar systems use optical or electronic guidance rather than 
physical constraints. The roadway has a cable which the bus picks up 
signals from, or a painted line which a sensor under the bus detects, to 
keep it running straight.

But the key thing which makes it a highway for me is that it has 
junctions with ordinary roads operated to the same rules as roads - 
traffic signals, signage and so on, and will have road signs on the 
guideway.

But as I say, the tag name really is of no great significance. The 
proposal on the table is highway, but if a majority vote against on a 
preference for railway, I'll change it, as it makes no difference to its 
usage.

David