OpenStreetMap
I’m wondering whether it’s worth adding foot paths (ie pavements) to the sides of roads - is it useful to people generally (e.g. visually-impaired people)? I’ve made a start in Wellington (New Zealand), but looking around big cities it doesn’t seem like it’s done very commonly
Trafodaeth
Sylwadau gan NZGraham ar 16 Ionawr 2014 am 06:42
Howdy, As a fellow NZ mapper I think that it is probably unnecessary for urban streets. I’d suggest that the assumed situation here in NZ is that there is a pavement (footpath) on both sides of the vast majority of urban streets. It is possible when mapping highways to add a tag ‘sidewalk’ with values of ‘both/left/right/separate/none’. I have never used this tag in my mapping but might consider using it with value ‘none’ on the few occasions I encounter a ‘pavementless’ street. For rural roads my assumption is that there won’t be a footpath but in situations like here osm.org/#map=15/-37.8130/175.3345 where a footpath is currently being constructed along Newell Road I will probably add the tag once construction is finished. With regard to mapping for the visually impaired you might like to look at the wiki page about Crossings osm.wiki/Crossing and think about mapping the various types of crossings for pedestrians in your area. There is the option of tagging features like sound or vibration alerts on these crossings. There is so much to learn – I regularly come across really useful tags which I could have used in the past if only I had been aware of them.
Sylwadau gan howdystranger ar 16 Ionawr 2014 am 07:43
Thanks! That’s helpful, and basically the conclusion I came to thinking about it. I’ve been putting in crossings as lines/ways rather than points which is very time consuming and also in hindsight unnecessary!
Also nice to know there’s someone out there reading diary entries - a very encouraging response to my first diary :-)
Cheers
Sylwadau gan EdLoach ar 16 Ionawr 2014 am 08:49
In case you aren’t aware of it, one of the many ITO Maps available shows sidewalk/footway coverage. Click the “key” top left to see what the different colours mean.
Sylwadau gan NZGraham ar 16 Ionawr 2014 am 09:22
Thanks Ed, I wasn’t aware of the ITO Maps - great idea. Would you like me to include the ‘sidewalk’ tag in my future mapping? (I can also gradually work through my local area and update existing info - using Overpass Turbo to identify streets with no sidewalk details.
Sylwadau gan Leigh ar 13 Mawrth 2014 am 23:39
I also tried this out here in http://www.itoworld.com/map/126?lon=174.90067&lat=-41.11649&zoom=17&fullscreen=true where there are some paths on only one side of the street.
It’s not very common though - probably most useful in areas where there is one or both sides of the street missing a footpath.
Sylwadau gan Leigh ar 13 Mawrth 2014 am 23:41
Sorry - my link didin’t work above - let me tried again!
The link above should read “Whitby”.