[OSM-talk] Highway and Ralyway - tram_stops and the like

[Robin Paulson]

On 11/01/2008, Lester Caine <lester at lsces.co.uk> wrote:
> > http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Proposed_features/Tram_station
> >
> > it will be moved to the approved features and map features pages
>
> Should it be used for the stops on the track of a bus_guideway ;)
>
> I do think that taking a lot of these features in isolation is missing the
> whole picture.
> Add the rich diversity world wide and things become even more complex.

totally right, absolutely.

this has been at the back of my mind for some time now. my gut feeling
about it, is to create the tags the way we are doing now, in
isolation, using the current top-level tags (they are quite
inconsistent and overlap lots, IMO)

at the moment we are seeing a rapid rise in the number of tags
proposed/accepted, and this is going to continue for some months,
after which it will decrease, signifying we have created the vast
majority (we will never fully complete, there will always be something
new)

at this point, we will have a far better, more-rounded picture of what
is happening with tags, how they could be improved, etc.:
does namespacing need to be seriously considered?
should we have such a shallow depth of tags, or a more nested approach?
should railways and highways be joined into one category (this would
remove a lot of arguments.....)?
do we need to look at how we define permission son highways?
and many more

at this point, i can see the tag system undergoing a major overhaul

i think trying to make changes like you are suggesting while we are
going through such a period of rapid change, would be a mistake