[OSM-talk] highway=unsurfaced

[M∡rtin Koppenhoefer]

2011/1/12 Anthony <osm at inbox.org>:
> On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 8:59 PM, David Murn <davey at incanberra.com.au> wrote
>> You seem to keep getting mixed up between the UK understanding of the
>> word 'road' and the OSM context of the meaning of highway=road.  As you
>> can read (quoted) in my original email, highway=road means "unknown
>> classification".

+1

> As I said, highway=road is not defined as "unknown classification", it
> is defined as "a road of unknown classification".


IMHO that's just a bad definition, because if you don't know the way,
how could you know that it is a road (see also the aussie example of
cycleway vs. unpaved road)? And which should be the classification of
an unknown path? Btw., Wikipedia (yes, it's not the bible) states that
"road" can be almost everything: "A road is a thoroughfare, route, or
way between two places, which typically has been improved to allow
travel by some conveyance, " [1]
and "A thoroughfare may refer to a public road, highway, path or trail
or a route on water from one place to another for use by a variety of
general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a
simple trail through to limited access highway with grade separated
junctions; " [2]

> And the differing
> notions of the meaning of "road" don't seem to be restricted to the
> UK.

+1, here I agree. In Germany it is similar. What exactly does
"highway" mean in spoken language? Does "highway=path" make any sense?
Tags are not the same as their verbal meaning.


> The wiki is confusing, though.  It puts highway=residential,
> highway=track, highway=service, and highway=pedestrian under the
> subcategory of "roads", but it puts highway=cycleway, highway=footway,
> and highway=bridleway under the subcategory of "paths".  Which I
> thought was distinguishing between motor vehicle traffic allowed and
> motor vehicle traffic not allowed.


IMHO that's perfectly OK, (note that I don't confirm road= "highway=road")


> But then highway=pedestrian would
> be an exception.


It is a "pedestrianized road" = a road


> Well, according to my understanding of the wiki, a cycleway (like a
> bridleway and a footway) is a "path" and not a "road".  If we want to
> keep that distinction, maybe there should be a highway=unknown tag,
> for cases where we don't know if it's a "path" or a "road".


I think that is not necessary. I am in favor of changing what the wiki
states about "highway=road"


>> The fact is, whether we like it or not, people will mass-change tags.
>> Lets at least try to encourage them to not break things too badly when
>> they do so.
>
> I disagree.


me too. I we really find that many people are mass-changing tags, and
the actions are disputed, we will probably take technical means to
avoid it.


cheers,
Martin


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoroughfare