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

[David Earl]

On 10/01/2008 19:00, Robin Paulson wrote:

> 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

I think a lot of the discussions we end up having are because we are 
forced to put a feature into a sometimes arbitrary or not-quite-right 
category.

But why do we need a category at all? Might it not be better to simply 
say "this is a tram stop and these are its properties".

Instead of
   highway=primary, ref=A1303, name=High Street
we'd say
   primary_road(ref=A1303, name=High Street)
[note: please don't think I'm proposing a syntax here, I'm just 
illustrating the concept - a concept which is not uncommon]

And instead of pointlessly arguing over whether a museum is tourist or 
historic (a current proposal to change one to the other was circulated 
earlier), it would simply be
   museum(name=Science Museum)

A tram stop is just a tram stop. A bus_guideway is just that, there's no 
need to argue the nuances of whether it is a railway-like feature or a 
highway-like feature - it doesn't then matter.

David