[OSM-talk] highway=cycleway or highway=path

[Simon Poole]

Am 23.06.2011 00:04, schrieb Nathan Edgars II:
> SimonPoole wrote:
>> In some countries (ie Germany, Switzerland) bicycle=designated has the
>> implication that the way has to be used by bicycles (in Germany it's
>> "slightly" more complicated), I assume that's not the case in the states.
>>
> Depends on the state (and sometimes the city):
> http://bicycledriving.org/law/guide-to-improving-laws#sidepath
> I can't see any way to tag a mandatory sidepath correctly with access tags,
> since one is presumably allowed to use the roadway to make a turn that can't
> be made from the sidepath (so bicycle=destination is incorrect).

In general in German speaking Europe, the requirement to use what ever 
is signposted as a mandatory cycleway goes only as far as it is actually 
going in your direction. So you are always allowed to use a junction or 
similar to leave the cycleway and go wherever necessary if the cycleway 
can't get you there. It is difficult to compare the European situation 
to the states, since road layout and use tends to be very very 
different, and mandatory sidepath usage is more similar to having to 
ride on the side of the road than mandatory cycleway usage (which are 
very often completely separate ways).

Just a further remark: instead of "designated", "official" is in use in 
Germany to indicate mandatory use cycleways that are really really 
mandatory (as I said, Germany is "slightly" more complicated).

Simon