Documenting solution proposals for `highway=path`

[Peter_Elderson]

History of proposals to fix highway=path ambiguity – and a wayforward?

I think any attempt to somehow re-define the highway=path tag itself is doomed to fail. Its use is so widespread that you will never manage to eliminate all instances that do not match an intended new definition. highway=path without any other tags will always be the mess it currently is. There are two main methods to move forward from here: Define new main highway=* tags for well defined portions of the space that is currently filled by highway=path. These new tags replace the main tag for …

Option 2:

Create new subtype tags (e.g. path=*) that are intended to be used with highway=path which further classify the path and provide more precise characterization. This method preserves the current support and interpretation of highway=path by data consumers and provides a gradual path forward (with the risk of [legacy/simple/…] data consumers not parsing these new sub-tags and interpreting highway=path as they currently do).