[OSM-talk] Path vs footway vs cycleway vs...

[Tobias Knerr]

Roy Wallace wrote:
>
>> Routing software that is aware of the local laws of each country seems obvious.
> 
> Um...what??? That will not write itself. Do you expect us to
> successfully digitize and maintain a database of all laws of all
> countries? In a wiki, even? That's ambitious! I'd prefer to stick to
> mapping what's on the ground.

If we map what's on the ground, then we create a map database containing
"here is an oneway sign, over there is a cycleway sign". That's
nice, but if I want to do routing with this, I need information such as
"can I use way w in direction d with vehicle v?" - and in order to know
this, I need another database that tells me what a sign means in that
part of the world (for example: are pedestrians allowed to walk on ways
with a cycleway sign?).

If we don't want a traffic law database, then we need to tag the
required information directly. But then mappers don't just map physical
reality. They interpret the signs (and other information) using their -
hopefully correct - knowledge of the laws.

Both can work, but /someone/ has to do the transfer from reality to road
network attributes - either software (using a traffic laws DB) or humans
(mapping more than just what's on the ground).

Tobias Knerr