I had no idea I would open such a can of worms! I am, however, finding the conversation productive.
I would like to emphasise this point that Steve made: There are two kinds of bike information we want to convey to > cyclists: > 1) physical infrastructure like highway=cycleway or cycleway=lane > (indicated in the bike map by blue bordered-roads etc) > 2) navigational infrastructure like route=bicycle (indicated in the > bike map by a transparent blue background) > I increasingly use the OSM Cycle layer to view both of these separate kinds of information. To be honest, OSM is the only place that the first type of information can be viewed for my region (and it is almost the only place to view the second). It seems to me that the first kind of information should be quite strictly determined by "what is on the ground". However, the second kind of information does not need to have anything "on the ground" in order to be valid. A council cycle route can validly go down a street without requiring that street to have a cycle lane or even bicycle signs. This is analogous to a bus route going down ordinary streets without there needing to be bus lanes. The physical infrastructure (information type 1) is important to see, and it is part of OSM and rendered on the cycle layer. The "meta-information" about routes (information type 2) is also important to see, and it is also part of OSM and rendered independently from type 1 info on the cycle layer. Recognising this distinction does help in real-world examples. A 3-lane road could well be part of "route=bicycle" without needing to have "cycleway=lane" or "highway=bicycle". This is (and should be) perfectly valid. The map as it currently displays would in fact make this "on the ground" situation obvious to a cyclist planning their journey. The problem with having such poor cycling infrastructure in my area is that there really is no formal "network" of council cycle routes. There are some sections of great cycleways, but they are disconnected. I would find it valuable to map even "semi-official" routes (type 2 info) to connect these paths. Remember that the lack of type 1 info will make it obvious that on-the-ground infrastructure does not exist. - Lachlan
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