[OSM-talk] Proliferation of path vs. footway

[Elena of Valhalla]

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 11:30 AM, Tom Chance<tom at acrewoods.net> wrote:
> I'm 100% unclear about the distinction between highway=path and
> highway=footway.
>
> Paths and footways, which seem to be used for the same sorts of ways by
> different mappers, both show up differently on the main map. [..]
> I can only think of a few circumstances where I wouldn’t just opt for
> footway – little unofficial paths here and there in parks, across small
> bits of grass in towns and in the countryside. But I’ve seen path crop up
> in lots of situations where the other highway tags would be good enough.

There has been some discussion lately on the italian mailing list,
with no consensus reached, but quite a few of us are using footway for
urban-style ways and path for outdoor/trekking style ways: the idea
would be that you can go in a footway with any kind of clothing and
footwear, while on a path foot=yes|designated you are expected to wear
at a minimum confortable clothes and footwear, unless the sac_scale
value suggests more tecnical equipment.

-- 
Elena ``of Valhalla''

homepage: http://www.trueelena.org
email: elena.valhalla at gmail.com