From formal criteria to usability

Bernhard_Hiller · 2012-01-18T16:50:37.000Z

The maps shown on openstreetmap.org are rendered using formal criteria.
In many countries, highway=unclassified or even secondary does not imply surface=paved. Still, dirt roads are rendered like “normal” (i.e. paved) roads.
I suggest to add extra lines to the style for dirt roads which are used when a tracktype or surface or smoothness tag implies an unpaved road.
Furthermore, a tertiary (secondary/primary) could be a dual carriageway. Also here, a different line should be used.
Please note that I do not suggest to change tagging of ways, but a rendering which makes use of more tags.
What do you think of these suggestions?

stephan75 · 2012-01-19T08:56:29.000Z

Maybe this topic can help a bit:

http://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/6241/adding-a-feature-to-the-default-osm-map

There are a lot of feature requests about the style of OSM’s “main map” … so I would not carry so much hope that each request will be processed.

But: try it!

greencaps · 2012-01-19T09:25:22.000Z

Bernhard Hiller:

In many countries, highway=unclassified or even secondary does not imply surface=paved. Still, dirt roads are rendered like “normal” (i.e. paved) roads.

A good example are roads in Mongolia. The famous ‘north route’ is mostly only a carriage track. But if you bring it in osm as a track then the map of Mongolia would hardly show any roads. You had to zoom in very much before seing something.

That would apply for use in a navigator too. Very unconvenient.

So one (i know who) started to tag such roads in Mongolia as highways (or even higher). Ahh… and now we see something in Mongolia and in the navigator.

But Mongolia on the map is still pretty empty.

Rendering should take in account the ‘emptyness’ of a region.

This ‘main’ road is a carriage track: http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=49.7557320102938,94.2022705078125&z=8&t=K&marker0=49.7557320102938,94.2022705078125

Vclaw · 2012-01-19T11:51:36.000Z

See OpenUnpavedStreetMap: http://osm.arkemie.org/ousm/
Some details about it here: http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/hot/2011-December/001324.html