The `ref=*` tag is an identification number that is assigned to any given road since it’s being created by the local governments. The "official meaning” of a `ref=*` is: the road built from 'point A' to 'point B’ and this is how they are formally identified by the government entities and even the everyday users. The `ref=*` also may help identify a main primary road from secondary or other minor roads, based on this denomination alone.
This remains true even in the US, where roads carry a `ref=*` that identifies them. I lived some time in Houston, Texas while attending college, where there was a “Katy Freeway” which was its “in-town” name, but remaining a part of the `ref=I-10`. I-10 aka Interstate 10 runs East to West, coast to coast, from Florida to California, crossing through all the Southern states in between. Every Interstate Highway in the US has a `ref=*`. And it is no secret that all Interstate Highways which `ref=*` numbers ends with a “0” run North to South, while all Interstate Highways which `ref=*` numbers ends with a “5” run East to West. Years later, after traveling around the world to almost all continents, the `ref=*` is something actually seen on many roads in most countries (I do not recall anywhere in particular in which there were no `ref=*` seen on road signs. Many countries actually refer to the roads by their `ref=*` only, and may not necessarily carry any other given name. In real life, just by seeing the `ref=*` sign pop-up on the map also helps to quickly find the road to follow, without having to rely on a relation to find the specific route being followed when crossing through cities or towns, where the roads carry other “in-town” names. Relations on OSM tend to be frequently broken, mostly unknowingly by editors who may have not even noticed their existence. For anyone driving while following a route from “point A” to “point B” having a segment of the route (ref=*) suddenly disappear due to some editor’s doings on a relation could cause much confusion at any moment, to say the least... IMO, to deprecate this tag would cause more harm than any good. It’s a simple tag, easy to enter and easy to follow as it currently appears on OSM. I am opposed to this tag being deprecated from OSM. I do not see much benefit in doing so, but do see much harm. > On Jun 2, 2025, at 4:58 PM, Paul Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Mon, Jun 2, 2025 at 7:07 AM Greg Troxel <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> António Madeira via Tagging <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> writes: >> >> > What I meant is that even if that "ref=49" is wrongly associated to >> >> It does seem like someone is adding incorrect refs based on a >> misunderstanding, and it would be good to have that resolved. People >> with strong opinions doing wrong things and the db ending up that way is >> an unfortunate part of OSM, but comes with the good parts of evolving >> tagging. > > It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start formally deprecating ref=* on > ways. Ref to describe routes on ways violates the "one object, one OSM > entity guideline," and is one of the reasons relations were created as a > primitive in OSM in the first place. If the ref=* on ways dinosaur was > allowed to die the death it should have 15 years ago. > > _______________________________________________ > Tagging mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging
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