Apparently, the tagging of the capacity of elevators has not been unified yet. Most language versions of the Wiki-Page highway=elevator recommend the usage of ‘capacity:person’, with the exception of the German page, which recommends ‘maxweight:persons’ instead.
The actual usage on the ground is different, these are the used combinations for highway=elevator:
- Kennzeichnung
5.1. Außer den für jede Maschine erforderlichen Mindestangaben gemäß Anhang I Nummer 1.7.3 der Richtlinie 2006/42/EG muss jeder Fahrkorb ein deutlich sichtbares Schild aufweisen, auf dem die Nennlast in Kilogramm und die höchstzulässige Anzahl der beförderten Personen angegeben sind.
Das vorausgesetzt erscheint für mich (zumindest innerhalb Europas) die Angabe beider Werte, also maxweight=* und capacity=* (ohne :persons) sinnvoll.
So, capacity:person was a very bad idea…
Not really a bad idea, there is usually both a capacity in persons and a maximum weight. In fact it would be very unusual to not have a sign stating max persons in a public lift (english for elevator).
It is far easier to count people than it is to estimate the sum of everyone’s weight.
The good old comedy classics, from before our time, illustrate it perfectly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VrTGJQa-60 The relevant section starts at 6:55.
Are you looking for a way to tag the elevator’s actual capacity (i.e. how many people would fit in there) or the legally mandated signage denoting how many persons’ weight the elevator can safely carry?
I suspect the fact that these values are not the same is part of the reason for the tagging and documentation discrepancies.
Unless there is another reason for the maximum number of persons the maximum weight is much more important.
I remember a case where we entered a lift for ten persons with a basketball team (ten players) and the lift did not go upward as expected but some centimeters downward and stuck there for the next day. After counting the weight of all ten persons, we were about 200 kg above the maximum weight.
Okay, let me rephrase. The maximum weight the elevator is fit to carry, should obviously be tagged with the maxweight tag, which is clearly stated on the Wiki page(s).
The capacity in persons is a different topic, though. How to get this value is no issue, as this has to be stated clearly in all the lifts (at least inside the European union), as @Herwescheluc pointed out above.
My question was, how this person capacity should be tagged.
I found four possible tags for this: capacity, capacity:person, capacity:persons and maxweight:persons. Most translations of the wiki page recommend capacity:person, the German maxweight:persons. Actually used are capacity:persons and capacity.
So, which tag should we recommend in future?
Of course, the use of capacity:persons=* is also possible, but I emphasise the important subordinate clause:
If it’s obvious that the maximum number of persons of a feature is meant, just use capacity=* for it.
because with the simultaneous specification of maxweight=* it should be clear that the capacity does not refer to tonnes…
Under the Keep It Simple principle, my vote is capacity and maxweight as posted.
There are also e.g. car elevators, so capacity is not always clear - therefore my choice would be capacity:person.
There are also e.g. car elevators, so
capacityis not always clear - therefore my choice would becapacity:person.
I agree that capacity alone is not sufficient to make clear it is about people. Other than car elevators, there are many goods elevators where people cannot enter.
I think that’s overcomplicating the very very very common case for the much rarer case but that’s statement about vibes not technical issues.