> On Apr 19, 2019, at 7:28 AM, brad <bradha...@fastmail.com> wrote: > > Everywhere I've been in the US or Canada a dirt 'way' too narrow for a 4 > wheel vehicle is called a trail, path, or single track. For the most part > they are appropriately (IMO) tagged as path. Unfortunately the wiki says > this for highway:path (the highlighting is mine): > > A non-specific path. Use highway <>=footway > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dfootway> for paths mainly > for walkers, highway <>=cycleway > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dcycleway> for one also > usable by cyclists, highway <>=bridleway > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dbridleway>for ones > available to horse riders as well as walkers and highway <>=track > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dtrack> for ones which is > passable by agriculture or similar vehicles. > > I think it makes no sense to call a dirt path, open to more than 1 user > group, anything other than a path. Since about 98% of the trail tagging > that I've seen seems to agree, Is there consensus on this? Perhaps if the > international group likes the description as is, a clarification on the US > road tagging wiki page? > https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/United_States_roads_tagging > <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/United_States_roads_tagging> >
From my experience in the western US, I concur with you. I personally use footway if it is a hard surfaced way that is restricted to foot traffic. One of my mental check points is: can it be used by a person in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller? In practice I usually only see those in suburban and urban environments though there are a few “nature trails” or “discovery trails” specifically designed for handicapped access I’ve come across that I’ve tagged as footways. Once away from town the ways are almost always too rough or narrow for a stroller/wheelchair and they are almost always multiple use with some combination of walking, equestrian and/or bicycling use allowed. Those I tag as paths. The suggestion that they be tagged with width and surface is often unreasonable in my area (source: I help with trail maintenance and there are trails in the coastal hills and mountains where the width will vary greatly during a single year due to the rate of growth of brush. We do our best to keep the tread area at least 0.5 meters wide and the width at chest height at about 2 meters but it is a continual project with limited numbers of volunteers and many miles of trails. In addition the best you could tag surface would be as “unpaved” as the natural material and can vary over very short distances).
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