On 24/07/2020 13:20, Martin Wynne wrote:
> but most people I know aren't aware of OSM.
I've been trying to persuade country-walking groups to use OSM. There is
a lot of useful stuff there not shown on OS Explorer -- stiles, kissing
gates, benches, bus stops, all pubs, cafes, etc. It's a lot more
up-to-date, and if they find anything missing they can add it themselves
for the benefit of others.
Most of them go back to OS Explorer when they find UK public rights of
way are not shown in different colours on the OSM standard map.
Yes; this is an issue specifically for map users on foot. With roads,
the question of legality is much less of an issue - almost all roads of
any significance are public highways, and those that are not are usually
clearly marked as such. But with footpaths and farm tracks in open
countryside, there is often no obvious visual distinction, and yet the
legality is a critical factor to users. This is an area in which OS maps
are much more useful to walkers.
On the other hand, one of the areas where OSM is better than OS is that
we map permissive paths, which OS tends not to unless they are big
enough to also be usable by vehicles (and even then, it doesn't have any
means of indicating permission).
This is one of the reasons why it would be nice to have a UK-specific
stylesheet for OSM. The data is there, so there's no reason why it cant
be rendered. Or, alternatively, a dedicated "outdoors" stylesheet which
focusses on hiking, biking, etc.
Mark
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