[OSM-talk] OSM for walkers / hikers - getting it going!

[Mike Harris]

Hi

I've been looking at this thread with interest and it is probably at 
risk of resurrecting the endless (?) debate about the use of foot-way, 
path etc. tags. Without expressing any personal view, to avoid reopening 
that debate, I would merely note that - rightly or wrongly - the 
highway=footway tag has been enormously used both for smooth paved urban 
and suburban paths (wheelchair / pram / shopping trolley friendly) and 
for invisible-on-the-ground rural or back country paths that are 
interrupted by obstacles such as gradients, gates, stiles, scrambles, 
etc. - and for everything in between. Equally, the highway=path tag has 
been used widely - but not often for the most urban paved paths. This is 
- whether or not we like it - the current situation. There have been 
many proposals for change, rationalisation or consolidation - some are 
very good, maybe others less so! Such is life.

The use of the sac scale is - perhaps not surprisingly - mostly 
restricted at present to paths in the more 'challenging' rural areas - 
e.g. hill and mountain country, especially in continental Europe (again 
not surprisingly given its origins). It provides very valuable 
information for walkers in this sort of area - but (again 
unsurprisingly, given its pedigree) does not differentiate well at the 
bottom end of the scale between various kinds of 'easy' paths - e.g. (a) 
a well marked and signed path in a 'honey pot' region of the countryside 
that is unpaved and has stiles and/or gates that would make e.g. 
wheelchair or pram access difficult vs. (b) an urban paved footpath that 
gives access, for all classes of user, say, to a town park or a shopping 
mall.

I cannot really make any recommendation beyond the usual one - dredge 
through the numerous wiki entries and the numerous threads on talk lists!

I suppose that this has not been very helpful ... sorry!

Mike

On 19:59, nicholas.g.lawrence at tmr.qld.gov.au wrote:
>
>
> > >>> .. I'm still unclear how one is supposed to
> > >>> distinguish between a smooth, wide urban footpath and a hiking 
> trail.
>
> A footpath can be traversed by a weelchair, perambulator or shopping 
> trolley?
>
> Regards,
> Nick
>
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-- 
*/Mike Harris/*
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