On 30/10/21 10:19 am, EON4wd wrote:

As part of this discussion I would like to know how to handle illegal motor bike tracks through the bush.

I have found that these can often be mapped as a track, as these can be seen clearly on a satellite photo.

They are definitely on the ground and often used every weekend, although there are many signs saying it is illegal.

Note that it is only illegal for motorised vehicles, walking or horses is OK.

These ‘tracks’ are not wide enough for a 4wd although an enthusiastic armchair mapper has mapped them as such, and I have been often caught out.

(I am very biased against armchair mapping for the bush. As an avid 4wd and bush lover, it is much better that the track is not marked than find a track that is  marked but shouldn’t be. Fuel and time both need to be managed when you are a long way from a town.)

I don’t like deleting these tracks but they are not ‘management’ , it is illegal to use them, and they are not wide enough for a standard car.

Question – how to map a track that is only wide enough for a motor bike. There is a track width tag but it doesn’t seem appropriate.

highway=path .. is a 'track' but not wide enough for a car/4WD. That is what I'd use.

Add access as appropriate.

The rest of the discussion will hopefully answer how to map an illegal track.

Thanks

Ian

While 'on the ground' mapping is preferable there is a lot of Australia and not than many mappers .. so needs must.


*From:*Dian Ågesson <[email protected]>
*Sent:* Friday, 29 October 2021 11:41 PM
*To:* [email protected]
*Cc:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: [talk-au] "Removing closed or illegal trails." (in Nerang National Park)

I think you’ve struck the central issue here: if it is on the ground, it will get mapped again, and again and again by editors who think that the path is merely missing, not consciously removed.

It should be recorded, in some way, so that the illegality of the path is stored. I can imagine a use case where a hiker sees a path, checks the map and sees that it is an illegal path and therefore shouldn’t be used.

I would be in favour of a tagging system that accurately reflects the status of the path, even if it is not supported by renderers. It’s primary use is land being rehabilitated, secondary to its illegitimate use.

something like:

access=no

informal=yes

rehabilitation:highway=path

source:access=parks agency name

Dian

On 2021-10-29 22:11, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> wrote:

    OSM is the database.

    If there are things incorrectly tagged in the database, they should be
    fixed. Nobody is saying otherwise.

    So yes, if in the example you gave below the legal authority has
    specified
    that you are only allowed to use specific marked trails with
    specified modes
    of transport, then the tags should reflect that and need to be
    fixed if they
    don't.

    Simply completely deleting features clearly visible on the ground
    does not
    do that, and just invites the next person who comes past to map
    them again,
    possibly with wrong tags once more.

    OSM is NOT how any particular consumer decides to use and present the
    information from the database. That includes Carto.

    I don't think it's acceptable to compromise the database because
    you don't
    like how a particular data consumer uses it.

    If you are unhappy about how something is being presented:

    a) ensure that the database correctly reflects reality
    b) engage with the data consumer (be it Carto or any of the
    countless other
    consumers of OSM data) to convince them to represent the data the
    way you
    want.

    This is the nature of an open database like OSM, you don't control
    how data
    consumers use the data.

    -----Original Message-----
    From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
    <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
    Sent: Friday, 29 October 2021 20:34
    To: Frederik Ramm <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
    Cc: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
    Subject: Re: [talk-au] "Removing closed or illegal trails." (in Nerang
    National Park)

    Hi Frederik, Thorsten

    1. "a park manager would prefer them not to, and therefore deletes
    the track
    in order to keep people from exercising their rights".

    Does this happen, has it ever happened? I would be surprised if it
    happened
    here. Anyway its not what I thought we were talking about, illegal
    trails.

    2. 3. and 4. "knowing which informal trails they might have taken
    can be
    helpful, might even save lives" possible but very unlikely. I
    could equally
    argue that the types of illegal trails that I am seeing, the "I
    rode my
    mountain bike down this way" type of trail (see #951362516
    later) can reduce map utility, they are often barely visible but are
    rendered the same as the type of trail a lost person would follow.
    Neither Frederik's nor my argument is particularly strong.

    I mentioned women's refuges earlier. Its irrelevant that we map
    the polygon
    but not the label. Its not because they are not verifiable, I
    could ground
    truth them by knocking on the front door and asking. We do not map
    women's
    refuges because that is the right thing to do. We search for
    justifications
    later.

    Finally Frederik and Thorsten stress the importance of lifecycle
    tagging,
    access tagging and rendering by the data users. I agree with them.

    We at OSM are not doing a great job of rendering. Go to
    https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/-37.93168/145.30667
    <https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/-37.93168/145.30667>
    There are 3 trails,
    Way: 476219417 which is access=no
    Way: Granite Track (56176535) which is legal These 2 tracks are
    rendered
    similarly, very few map users would notice that one of them was closed

    We are not doing a great job on tagging either The third track Path
    #951362516 is illegal but not tagged as such. The editor should
    know that it
    is illegal they say "Probably unofficial but reasonably well used"
    there is
    a good chance they knew. It was clearly signed at every entrance
    to "stay on
    formed trails" and there are lots of maps on sign boards showing
    all the
    legal trails.

    Now this trail is mapped, it is going to attract lots of traffic.
    Its never
    going to save a lost walker's life. Its going to take many many
    hours of
    volunteer labour to keep it closed for long enough to revegetate
    and get
    deleted from the map. That's the consequence of the Parks Service
    respecting
    OSM's consensus policy.

    I support OSM's consensus form of government and as a consequence
    support
    the consensus position on illegal tracks. But it causes others a
    lot of
    problems and I think we can be more responsible and nuanced within the
    consensus position.

    Tony


        Hi,

        On 29.10.21 09:08, [email protected]
        <mailto:[email protected]> wrote:

            You could map a track under the "if it exists then map it"
            rule but
            you don't have to. We do not map women's refuges and they
            exist. We
            don't have to map every informal trail.


        This is true, and we shouldn't go out of our way to thwart the
        efforts
        of park managers. Having said that,

        1. Sometimes the matter can be a civil rights issue -
        depending on the
        legal situation, people might have the *right* to use a path
        but a
        park manager would prefer them not to, and therefore deletes
        the track
        in order to keep people from exercising their rights. In that
        situation, while the park manager might want the best for the
        environment, the park manager would have to work to change the
        legal
        situation instead of trying to mislead people about what they
        are allowed

    to do.


        2. In similar discussions we had people working with search
        and rescue
        teams say that they prefer to use OSM maps because those show the
        informal trails, and if you're searching for someone who got
        lost,
        knowing which informal trails they might have taken can be
        helpful -
        might even save lives.

        3. If you have an emergency out in the wild, knowledge about
        informal
        or even prohibited/closed tracks can be helpful and again,
        might even
        save lives.

        4. If you are navigating without a GPS, you might use trails for
        orientation ("take the second left after entering the forest" or
        whatever). In these cases if there's a trail that exists and is
        visible but is not shown on the map, you will mis-count.

        Therefore I would like to agree with Paul and Thorsten, and
        stress
        that we should (a) map access tags properly, and (b) lobby web
        sites
        and apps using OSM data to properly process these access tags,
        by not
        including access-restricted trails in routing or route
        suggestions,
        and by clearly marking these restrictions on maps.

        Bye
        Frederik

        --
        Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail [email protected]
        <mailto:[email protected]>  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"

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