Key:maxspeed

maxspeed
File:Maxspeed.svg
Description
Maximum speed in km/h.
Group: Restrictions
Used on these elements
Useful combination
highway=* minspeed=* railway=* source:maxspeed=* waterway=* zone:maxspeed=* zone:traffic=*
See also
maxspeed:conditional=* maxspeed:variable=* maxspeed:advisory=* minspeed=*
Status: de facto
maxspeed=* More details at taginfo More details at taginfo
Tools for this tag
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This key allows the specification of the maximum speed that is allowed.

values

Values are assumed to be in kilometres per hour (kph or km/h) unless units are explicit.

• Never tag rounded values!
• If your country uses kilometers / the metric system, tag the value without unit!
• If your country still uses miles / the imperial system, tag the value and append " mph"!
• You can also convert your mph values to the exact kilometers per hour value.

E.g. a speed limit of 30 miles per hour should be tagged as "30 mph" and a limit of 50 kilometers per hour as "50".

One mile is 1609,344 meters / 1,609344 kilometers. Don't confuse with the nautical mile which is 1852 meters / 1,852 kilometers.

Example

maxspeed=60 (using default units of km/h)

maxspeed=60 mph (explicitly stating units as mph instead of km/h)

mph to km/h conversion table

mph	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50	55	60	70	80
=km/h	24.140	32.187	40.234	48.280	56.327	64.374	72.420	80.467	88.514	96.561	112.654	128.748
~km/h	24	32	40	48	56	64	72	80	89	97	113	129

Parser

These are for parsing, not for mapping! Mapping new values should be done with only the 2 possibilities given above while parsing existing ones should be less strict to be more robust to human error.

Regular expression for numeric values:
^([0-9][\.0-9]+?)(?:[ ]?(?:kmh|km/h|mph|kph))?$

Regular expression which catches numeric values and common values like walk or city_limits:
^([^ ]+?)(?:[ ]?(?:kmh|km/h|mph|kph))?$

Tips

• maxspeed=none/no/unlimited tags are in use but not clearly accepted by the community. See Proposed features/maxspeed none and think about using less implicit values like maxspeed=DE:motorway!

• maxspeed=signals should be used if there are automatic traffic signals with speed limitations.

• maxspeed=walk should be avoided because "walk speed" has not the same meaning on different countries. See Proposed features/maxspeed walk and think about using less implicit values like maxspeed=UK:walk or maxspeed=DE:living_street!

• Tag from what you see and not from what you think to know. I.e. if you see traffic_sign=city_limit (which has no maxspeed-value on it), tag the way with maxspeed=DE:place / DE:urban / DE:town and not with maxspeed=50, if that distinction makes a difference in your country. To tag an implicit limit outside of settlements (overland) use maxspeed=DE:land / DE:rural / DE:country / DE:out_of_town. This usage is heavily discussed on the talk mailing list (Don't get confused with trafficzones! They are not the same as maxspeed.).

• What to do if the real possible speed is below the allowed speed?

• Always tag the allowed speed (as maxspeed=*)!
• Add maxspeed:practical=* for the real maxspeed.
• Perhaps we need to add some time-based values like maxspeed:practical=90;rushhour:20 or maxspeed:practical=90;nighttime:120
• This is just an idea it has neither been approved or rejected by the community. Please discuss on the talk-page!

See also

• Maxspeed-Map with dynamic database
• Maxspeed-Map static overlay
• minspeed=*
• access=*
• OSM tags for routing/Maxspeed

• Proposed features/trafficzone‎ (for implicit laws and restrictions)
• Traffic enforcement
• Traffic enforcement renderer

• METRIC 4 US! – more information about mph vs. kph, unit conversion and tables