Robin Paulson wrote: > yes, it is a strange choice. it leads to irrationalities like > highway=footway and highway=cycleway > why we're not using right_of_way=motorway|primary|cycleway|footway| > and so on, i don't know
Generally "right of way" is a legal term. It defines a way by the class of user who has legal permission to use it. By and large, when we map roads, we're making observations as to what's on the ground. We're not trawling through statutory instruments to find the legal status of a particular road or footpath. So whatever the failings of 'highway', 'right of way' would imply a legal status that we simply don't know. (Incidentally, the term 'highway' isn't really UK-centric - it's very rarely used over here except in road-technical circles, e.g. Highways Agency, highway engineer. Everyone else calls it a 'road' - e.g. railway enthusiasts dismissively refer to the Department for Transport as the Department for Roads. The generic 'highway' is much more US usage.) cheers Richard _______________________________________________ talk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/talk
