In CoMaps amenity=ferry_terminal is rendered quite prominently because it is considered important infrastructure
However, it seems like that in OSM this tag is used on everything from large ferry terminals taking hundreds of cars and lorries, to small passenger ferries taking at max 100 people
E.g., in this screenshot only a couple are large ferry terminals:
How are you supposed to use this tag, and how could you differentiate between the large and small terminals?
I see there’s also a preset in iD for “Ferry Stopping Location” that use ferry=yes and public_transport=stop_position. Would that be more appropriate for most of these stops?
I agree, the Wiki page for route=ferry says that the tag should be used for the start and endpoint of any ferry route, so I’ve seen it used on small hand pulled ferries that are only big enough for one person:
I think it makes sense not to use amenity=ferry_terminal at all in that case. The tag could be reserved for things that would actually be called ferry terminals in real life. I’m not sure where exactly to draw the line but I guess there should at least be a building?
Looking at the Puget Sound ferries, that’s not a good distinguisher. Shaw Island has a terminal building on an island with a population of 200 people; Tahlequah has a shed and some covered benches, and could see that many people just waiting in their cars for the next ferry.
