[RFC] Feature Proposal - Make cycleway:both the default to indicate both sides

[user5 (Kyle)]

@roelant

This leaves mappers and data consumers in a situation where the definition of cycleway=* (no side subkey) is unclear:

• It could mean “a cycleway somewhere on the way.”
• It could mean “a cycleway on the primary direction of the way” (e.g., on the right in many countries or when used on a dual carriageway).
• It could mean “a cycleway on both sides of the way.”

While I did read this in the proposal, that doesn’t make it fact. I’m actually quite curious what the factual basis for this is? Where can information that support these statements be found?

There are some other examples that have not been mentioned yet. For example, some data consumers have different interpretations of oneway=yes + cycleway=*.

This creates a lot of confusion and causes some people to insist that their interpretation is correct, but in reality it’s just a mess.

For example:
• StreetComplete assumes that oneway=yes + cycleway=* means the cycleway is only on the main side
• CycleOSM assumes that oneway=yes + cycleway=* means the cycleway is on both sides

Because of this confusion, it would great to encourage cycleway:both over cycleway