[OSM-talk] sidewalks

[Martin Koppenhoefer]

2009/8/8 Tom Chance <tom at acrewoods.net>:
> I'm not clear about the benefit of getting this complicated! That's a lot of
> extra work!

sure. It's a project for the future, when everything is already mapped
;-), say next year.
> Also, how will a routing engine know if a way without parallel
> footways is one without pavements or one where the local mapper hasn't entered
> all of them in?

Well, it can't know it. But currently it can't know it neither.

> Can we not assume that every highway except rural trunk roads and motorway has
> a sidewalk, unless it has an additional tag like sidewalk=no?

no, you better asume almost nothing, because the world is too big and
complex to make such assumptions.

Or even foot=no!

no, foot=no when it is forbidden. On a road without pavement you can
still walk, but it's less pleasant (and probably more dangerous).

cheers,
Martin