[Poll / Follow-up] How to tag MTB rideability when difficulty is unknown?

[rhhs (Richard)]

@julcnx

I’ve come to think that, just like estimating suitability, labeling something as dangerous or impassable is highly subjective and probably shouldn’t be tagged explicitly. In contrast, passability is usually observable and verifiable—GPX traces, for example, provide solid evidence. Routers are already getting better at avoiding paths with missing data, so I see nowmtb:scale=passable/usable as a higher priority than tagging “dangerous/impassable” routes.

I agree that estimating suitability is subjective, so a mtb:scale=unknown tag should be considered temporary and should be replaced with a surveyed value as soon as possible. By tagging it as unknown, a mapper does not take an explicit position that a way is dangerous, but the value should imply that it is potentially dangerous and should be avoided by most map users.
Passability is verifiable so is easier to tag, but surely keeping map users out of danger is more important than offering them additional possibilities to enjoy their MTB ride.