[OSM-talk] [tagging] Feature Proposal - RFC - incline up down

[Peter Childs]

2009/8/22 John Smith <delta_foxtrot at yahoo.com>:
> --- On Sun, 23/8/09, Morten Kjeldgaard <mok at bioxray.au.dk> wrote:
>> I realize it wont be possible to compute elevation
>> gradients tomorrow, but why not plan ahead? Who would've
>> thought a few years ago that the project would be so far
>> advanced? Wouldn't you rather have nodes on a way with
>> "incline=7%" than "incline=up"? Wouldn't it be better to get
>> this data from a database lookup than from manual tagging?
>
> I doubt anyone is disagreeing, however up/down is like tagging highway=road, it's just a rough reference.
>

I'm tempted to say gradient needs tagging, this can often be got off
road signs. but I don't see why we can't tag any way with a gradient.
This is also needed for steps and escalators.

The issue is that it can't really be derived from elevation data as
ways often go at an angle (to reduce gradient) or are built out from
the land on man made structures. Some bridges my cause an incline
which may need taging, ie hump backed bridges.

Peter.