[RFC] Highway=pass

[Hungerburg (Asa Hundert)]

@chris66

I see no benefit.

Yeah, definitely; I concur; No need to propose highway=pass that just says, you can pass from here to there, there might be something on the ground, e.g. a 4m wide track paved with asphalt, or there might be nothing, You might get by with sneakers, or you might need an ice axe and a rope; We already have highway=path for that

[Matija_Nalis]

@Hungerburg

you can pass from here to there, there might be something on the ground, e.g. a 4m wide track paved with asphalt, or there might be nothing, You might get by with sneakers, or you might need an ice axe and a rope; We already have highway=path for that

As mentioned, there is highway=road which says:

Anything which has been tagged highway=road can basically be any kind of “road” from the smallest footpath to the largest motorway

If you know extra attributes, like surface=asphalt + width=4.0 you mention above, or foot=yes + access=no, you can add that. If you don’t know details, you simply don’t add them.

(Related: Feature Proposal - Voting - highway=scramble)

[Hungerburg (Asa Hundert)]

@Matija_Nalis

As mentioned, there is highway=road which says:

Anything which has been tagged highway=road can basically be any kind of “road” from the smallest footpath to the largest motorway

Except for motorways, that is exactly what highway=path is used for, the difference only on the other end of the spectrum, like what I read in OSM notes, that say, “There is no path there”, the answer goes: “This is the most praktikable route to get from here to there” or “I have seen people walk there.” So I dreamt up highway=pass to capture such, but the community immediately reminded me, that there is no benefit.

I kind of like this take:

@Friendly_Ghost

demote highway=path to a sort of highway=road where you know that motor vehicles can’t or are not allowed to pass

If I were @Mateusz_Konieczny I would start by editing wiki pages. How to create some evidence?

[Friendly_Ghost (Casper)]

@Hungerburg

If I were @Mateusz_Konieczny I would start by editing wiki pages. How to create some evidence?

Have a good look at OSM tags for routing/Access restrictions - OpenStreetMap Wiki.
Also, don’t just start fiddling with the documentation unless you’re clear that the concept you’re adding has community support as well as actual use in OSM.

[Hungerburg (Asa Hundert)]

Well, I lack the guts to fiddle with the wiki, especially in such a highly loaded tag. That is why I invited someone with more guts. I’ rather collect evidence: Starting here, highway=path | Tags | OpenStreetMap Taginfo Austria

Looks like highway=path is mostly for hiking trails (26% sac_scale). This is by the number of entities. For a better measure, the length of the ways should be used.

What highway=path is purported to be useful as, to map designated foot- and cycleways only accounts for a mere 5.8% (foot=designated) rsp. 4.7% (bicycle=designated). No way to tell, how many there are, that have both, which is the panacea of highway=path tagging. (Overpass might do it or ohsome too, and also calculate length of ways.)

Regarding “actual use”, is that telling enough?