Consuming highway=path

bagis · 2024-08-30T10:04:29.265Z

Recently I was out using StreetComplete and it asked me for the surface of “the path”. I was very confused as this way was clearly signed as designated for bicycle and foot. Further investigation led to learning that this is how the JOSM preset work.

The preset “Dedicated cycleway” will make a highway=cycleway.
The preset “Dedicated footway” will make a highway=footway.
The presets “Combined foot- and cycleway” and “Segregated foot- and cycleway” will make a highway=path + foot=designated + bicycle=designated.

For me highway=cycleway and highway=footway just adds confusion, deprecating them would direct mappers and consumers towards handling highway=path together with other tags. But I might be ignorant of some important detail, and double checking my ignorance made me find the page on Duck tagging.

Peter_Elderson · 2024-08-30T10:56:25.296Z

bagis:

signed as designated for bicycle and foot

So, the path is not specifically a cycleway (path for bicycles) and not specifically a footway (path for pedestrians), it’s a combined path, and StreetComplete wants to know the surface. I don’t see the problem here?

bagis · 2024-08-30T11:34:47.730Z

Peter_Elderson:

bagis:

signed as designated for bicycle and foot

So, the path is not specifically a cycleway (path for bicycles) and not specifically a footway (path for pedestrians), it’s a combined path, and StreetComplete wants to know the surface. I don’t see the problem here?

I think part of the initial confusion was the translation to the Swedish word “stig” which is strongly connected with a path in the woods. I believe the English word path is more of both urban and non-urban.

For me a combined cycle- and footway is a highway=cycleway + foot=designated. which is clearly a bicycle centric way of thinking.

So there is ample room for confusion, I think.

CeeJay13 · 2024-08-30T13:15:36.768Z

As a wheelchair user, I think that some tracks marked as paths are not usable, especially Downhill MTB.

skyper · 2024-08-30T13:44:23.569Z

Well wheelchair=* is not connected with a traffic sign and therefore not as strict as other access tags. Though I have to admit that many path (especially in the forest and mountains) should have a wheelchair=no which they currently do not have.
Besides, as a lucky person without these restrictions, I am often not sure what is manageable with a wheelchair and what isn’t. I know a person tied to a wheelchair who has mostly no problem to ride down stairs by himself and even manages to climb up to five steps upward. On the other side an electric wheelchair has much more restrictions and even assisted by two person a single curb can be a major barrier.

CeeJay13 · 2024-08-30T14:09:29.810Z

I understand. I have been in my wheelchair and used a couple of Grandchildren to increase the traction available on the front drive wheel, whereas a Mobility Scooter just went straight up the path without hesitation.

I, until a couple of years ago, was completely Mobile and my passion was walking in the countryside and forests. Unfortunately now, I am finding the limitations of my new mode of transport and I am starting to rely on this wonderful OSM to help me get around!!

(Stiles are the other thing I have a specific interest in!)

GreekMountains · 2024-08-30T17:51:02.992Z

I agree with what you are saying. In addition many Dirt roads are not updated for understandable reasons- only a few people go down them and they are not map editors!
I ride a dirt bike as my main sport/ hobby and seek out these things all the time.
I am also a little confused as what an “ alpine route” is as there is only “ path” and “ dirt road “ available to render in this situation.

An alpine route would only be in the alps??? Surely we do not want another tag for one specific mountain range

ezekielf · 2024-08-30T18:05:11.703Z

GreekMountains:

An alpine route would only be in the alps???

Aah yes this is confusing, but the English word “alpine” can refer to large mountains in general, not just specifically the Alps.

n76 · 2024-08-30T18:08:54.457Z

GreekMountains:

I agree with what you are saying. In addition many Dirt roads are not updated for understandable reasons- only a few people go down them and they are not map editors!
I ride a dirt bike as my main sport/ hobby and seek out these things all the time.
I am also a little confused as what an “ alpine route” is as there is only “ path” and “ dirt road “ available to render in this situation.

An alpine route would only be in the alps??? Surely we do not want another tag for one specific mountain range

“Alpine” may have originated in the Alps but the term is used outside of that area. At least in the US high elevation mountains, usually those that extend above the upper timberline, are described as having an alpine environment. I believe that term is used in most of the world but cannot be sure.

And there are definitely routes, some might hesitate to call them trails, that would be well described by the definition given for sac_scale=alpine_hiking in the wiki.

Hungerburg · 2024-08-30T21:28:01.710Z

bagis:

the Swedish word “stig” which is strongly connected with a path in the woods

This reminds me of the German word “Steig”, which connects to steep paths in the mountains. The term “Pfad” I only know from pathfinder clubs where it is used colloquially, else it reminds of poetry. Generally I think it connects to single-trail walking paths. I would be stunned if the German locale of StreetComplete used that term to refer to cycleways.

This further reminds me about my amazement, why this topic draws no attention at all from the people that use path in the sense of “shared use 2m wide paved urban infrastructure”. I think, they are just too complacent in being right and pathless routes only a niche nobody cares about.

I guess most consumers of OSM data belong to latter group?

Peter_Elderson · 2024-08-30T21:50:22.674Z

I get the feeling that we agree that a highway=path can vary widely in access and in physical characteristics.

If access and physical characteristics are tagged on the feature, data consumers can use the extra tags for their target groups and applications, such as maps and routing profiles.
If they don’t, they are not optimally serving their users.

For highway=path without any other tags, data consumers who do use the differentiating tags, will have to decide on default values for those tags.

The access tags are easy: world wide defaults are: general access=no, foot=yes, bicycle=yes, horse=yes. I would add: oneway=no.
What, if any, are sensible world wide defaults for width, height, visibility, incline/decline, smoothness, surface, various skill scales et cetera?

e.g. Could a minimum width of 50 cm and a maximum width of 200 cm be assumed, with a tendency toward the narrow end, meaning that in the absence of any width tag, a path could be rendered as 1.5 m wide, which physically allows foot, bicycle, and horse access.

dieterdreist · 2024-08-30T23:25:33.000Z

e.g. Could a minimum width of 50 cm and a maximum width of 200 cm be assumed, with a tendency toward the narrow end, meaning that in the absence of any width tag, a path could be rendered as 1.5 m wide, which physically allows foot, bicycle, and horse access.

there is no minimum width, but width for unpaved ways is generally more difficult to estimate. For a path on bare ground, being just 20-30 cm wide on the ground is no problem if there is space above for the body

Msiipola · 2024-08-31T06:39:58.052Z

Peter_Elderson:

horse=yes

Does “horse” mean all animals which are used for riding? Camels, elephants etc.?

Peter_Elderson · 2024-08-31T08:23:17.016Z

I was considering what would be a suitable default when width-tags are missing. This could be reflected on a map, or be considered by a router for a specific transport profile.
A default is not ‘what it can be’, but ‘what is the best guess’.

Peter_Elderson · 2024-08-31T08:36:36.402Z

Msiipola:

Does “horse” mean all animals which are used for riding? Camels, elephants etc.?

Would an elephant need an existing path?

SomeoneElse · 2024-08-31T09:01:26.599Z

Peter_Elderson:

or be considered by a router for a specific transport profile.
A default is not ‘what it can be’, but ‘what is the best guess’.

While “best guess” might work in some situations (a blog post about how wonderful OSM coverage is, for example), but I’d suggest that a router should only suggest a route that it knows will be OK. The access tag “best guesses” that you suggested above are just plain wrong in the countries I live in and visit most.

If a particular tag (such as highway=path) has such broad usage - even if you exclude frankly silly examples like the “scuba path” mentioned elsewhere - that it can’t be relied upon for a particular mode of transport without other clarifying tags, then a router shouldn’t suggest it.

Peter_Elderson · 2024-08-31T10:18:07.740Z

SomeoneElse:

I’d suggest that a router should only suggest a route that it knows will be OK.

That would mean highway=path without other tags is not routed at all. Is that a realistic approach?

Msiipola · 2024-08-31T10:27:10.426Z

I don’t own a elephant, so I don know!

SomeoneElse · 2024-08-31T11:34:08.557Z

Peter_Elderson:

That would mean highway=path without other tags is not routed at all. Is that a realistic approach?

For any mode other than on foot, absolutely. If the mapping in a particular country is so poor than most highway=path don’t have other tags, then a sensible approach would be to penalise “unknown quality” routes as if they were a muddy, boggy, path (which of course it’s entirely possible that they might be).

ezekielf · 2024-08-31T18:50:42.726Z

Peter_Elderson:

That would mean highway=path without other tags is not routed at all. Is that a realistic approach?

In my opinion, yes. To me it feels like highway=path on its own is nearly on the same level as highway=road in terms of what data consumers can glean from it. i.e. very little.

Here is an overpass query attempting to identify instances of highway=path without any more specific descriptive tags. I’ve not been able to run it worldwide without the request timing out, but in every area I’ve run it, there are many results. They represent all sorts of different path types as well as things that aren’t paths at all. Don’t trust this tag.