Hi I can't agree with Dave F's interpretation of the wiki for highway=track - see http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features#Highway where the definition is given as:
"Roads for agricultural use, gravel roads in the forest etc.; usually unpaved/unsealed but may occasionally apply to paved tracks as well, see tracktype=* for more guidance." This is the way in which I use it - and I thought that was relatively uncontroversial. I would use a sport key for a race track etc. A path is never drivable by a mechanically-propelled vehicle - a track is usually drivable by at least some sort of mechanically-propelled vehicle, typically to the extent indicated by tracktype= I do, however, completely agree with his comments on highway=unclassified (and highway=road) - where the former relates to minor roads in the countryside that are less important than highway=tertiary - whether or not they lead somewhere is subjective - they might be access roads only of no use to through traffic or they might be minor links between villages or over a mountain pass - but I would expect them to be drivable by a motor-car (not necessarily 4WD). Round here I use them all the time to get from A to B - if you know the road it is always shorter and often quicker than tackling the main roads! Mike Harris > -----Original Message----- > From: Dave F. [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 13 October 2009 11:33 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [OSM-newbies] are roads driveable? > > David ``Smith'' wrote: > > On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 11:54 PM, Aspen Swartz > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> None of the categories are hard-and-fast, and especially > since it's a > >> user-generated map, your mileage on each road in your car may vary. > >> Off the top of my head though, "footway", "path" and "pedestrian" > >> probably won't take vehicles; "track" may only be suitable for > >> 4-wheel drive vehicles; and in rural areas "driveway" and > >> "residential" may not be free to access. "unclassified" > may be tagged > >> that way because the mapper didn't know the nature of the > road. All > >> the other roadtypes look driveable to me. > >> > > > > I thought highway=track was meant for race tracks. > http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dtrack > http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:tracktype > > > Running, horse > > racing, auto racing, that sort of thing. > http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:leisure > > Isn't that what the wiki > > says? If you're talking about a track left by occasional > passage of > > animals or vehicles where there's no road, I think that's what > > highway=path is for. > > > > Unclassified is a very poorly-named tag, because in reality > it is its > > own distinct classification. It's used on mostly rural > roads that are > > driveable enough, but don't go anywhere useful to through > traffic and > > are not residential in nature. If the mapper doesn't know > the nature > > of the road, it should be tagged highway=road. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ newbies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/newbies
