[OSM-talk] Philosophy about Autorouting for Cyclists and new key class:bicycle

[Steve Bennett]

On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 6:12 AM, Anton Martchukov <anton at martchukov.com> wrote:
> As a cyclist myself I understand the reason for such a
> proposal, but such marking will be highly subjective and I
> would prefer to have more objective facts about my route in
> the database and then make my decision, some automatic tools
> may help me with this.

Yeah, speaking for myself, I don't need a tool that calculates the
"perfect" cycle route — a "good" route is fine. Although I obsess
endlessly over the perfect route (I spent hours trying to shave a few
hundred metres off my daily commute), I also accept that it doesn't
really matter that much.

So, I think basic information like "sealed, signposted cycle path"
adds a lot of value, but "avoid this road, it has a few pot holes" is
not so important. If anyone is collecting subjective information about
roads, it should perhaps be done outside OSM, but in a way that can be
linked. After all, if there is one organisation collecting subjective
information, there could be two or more - and they probably won't
agree.

Steve