Thanks everyone for the input. As much as I like the concept of using the sidewalk attribute to the road, it doesn't seem like it is all that useful for adding kerb slope. It wasn't pointed out, but one additional problem with using the sidewalk attribute is that a new mapper will likely not look at the tags on the road and draw in a footpath, duplicating the existing one.
I don't think relations are the right answer either. It isn't easy to teach new people how to add relations. We should be able to identify footpaths adjacent to roads by their spatial characteristics. Should we depreciate the sidewalk=left/right/both/none tag in favor of drawing separate footpaths? The problem with the highway attribute feature is as soon as the there is a special circumstance the editor is obligated to draw a separate footpath. For example, a crossing in the middle of the street. They happen all the time. Mapping sidewalks as an attribute to an existing road is easy. I did my little town. But adding in wheelchair access, seems to make that method look very difficult. Looking to the future, more communities will (should) want to map wheelchair access. Clifford On Tue, Nov 24, 2015 at 7:54 AM, Philip Barnes <p...@trigpoint.me.uk> wrote: > On Tue Nov 24 15:39:45 2015 GMT, johnw wrote: > > > > > On Nov 24, 2015, at 11:32 PM, Martin Koppenhoefer < > dieterdre...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > the road, they are quite capable of deciding which side to walk, where > > > to cross and whether it is simply easier to walk on the road. > > > > > > TL;DR: > > Although I care more about the rendering than the routing, the routing > in this situation needs to be very explicit in places because sidewalks are > crazy in some countries. Simple routing may work in most of the globe, but > there are some cities/countries where pedestrian access conventions require > very explicit mapping and routing. > > > > ~~ > > > > I can imagine that this is a non-issue in a lot of places, as I grew up > where getting to the other side of the street was not such a big deal, nor > was what side of the street you were on a big deal when looking for routing > information. > > > > But there are plenty of places - or at least city centers - where it is > a big deal. > > > > There are plenty of situations out here in small Japanese towns (let > alone Tokyo) where which side of the street you are on is very important > for routing, and it is impossible to change sides in a convenient/safe spot > after a decision has been made. Some have dead-end sidewalks (that end in > walls and a narrow shoulder) that put you into extremely hazardous > situations (being right next to traffic against a wall/guardrail - which > they do all the time), or put you onto walkways onto bridges where you > cannot take walkways that lead away from the opposite side, or there are > access stairs to the pedestrian walkways that run under the bridge that > only connect on one side of the bridge (leading to 300 meters or more of > walking around the longer route). as most Japanese towns are in valleys or > near water, there are tons of bridges everywhere - some with really weird > pedestrian routing restrictions. > > > > given the absolute psychotic nature of Japanese sidewalks throughout the > whole country, explicit sidewalk mapping is a very good thing. I was just > in Tokyo this evening - and I used 6 different kinds of footpaths - two > were sidewalks with severe access restrictions to keep people out of the > street (large steel pipe fencing along the road to keep people from > Jaywalking) except at crosswalks, down to one way alleys with the green > paths. choosing the correct side of the street makes a difference for > certain ped access bridges to other buildings, to subway and train > entrances (which by no means are accessible from the other side - steel > pipe barrier and all), or lead to completely different layers and tunnels > depending on your side of the road. > > > You are describing situations where there are separate sidewalks, you are > mentioning fences and other restrictions. In these cases I would map > sidewalks as separate ways. > > Both methods, separate ways or as highway tags, are fine and should be > used as appropriate. > > Phil (trigpoint) > -- > Sent from my Jolla > _______________________________________________ > Tagging mailing list > Tagging@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging > -- @osm_seattle osm_seattle.snowandsnow.us OpenStreetMap: Maps with a human touch
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