Draft:Foundation/Local Chapters/United States/Pedestrian Working Group/Guide

This is a work-in-progress draft of a quick-start guide for pedestrian infrastructure mapping developed by the Pedestrian Working Group.

A work-in-progress draft of a full tagging schema for pedestrian infrastructure mapping is available here.

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Anatomy of a Sidewalk

Our end-goal is mapping for a sidewalk network for navigation.

Tiers

A tier-based system is used to communicate which features and tags are possible with various resources and necessary for which use cases, as follows, with further details below:

Icon	Name	Description	Use Cases	Required Resources
	Bronze	Basic geometry and essential tags	Basic everyday pedestrian navigation	(Older) Low-quality aerial imagery
	Silver	Detailed geometry and tagging	Accessibility-focused applications	(Somewhat recent) Medium-quality aerial imagery and/or low-quality street-level imagery
	Gold	Micromapping and advanced tagging	Advanced routers and visualizations	(Recent) High-quality aerial and/or street-level imagery or in-person survey

If, for example, you want to map pedestrian infrastructure so that it can be used for basic everyday routing and only have low-quality aerial imagery available, you would include only the features and tags marked with a Bronze Tier symbol.

If you have access to high-quality imagery and want to map pedestrian infrastructure so that it can be used by accessibility-focused routers, you would include all features and tags marked with a Bronze Tier symbol or a Silver Tier symbol.

Mapping Guidelines

Sidewalks

• Sidewalk Way Mapping:

highway=footway + footway=sidewalk - Representational mapping of sidewalk centerline.

Crossings

• Crossing Way Mapping

highway=footway + footway=crossing - Representational mapping of crossing centerline.

Connectors (exact tagging schema pending)

• Connector Way Mapping:

highway=? + ?=? - Connecting sidewalk centerlines and curb nodes, bridging representational mapping of centerlines and literal mapping of curb locations.

Curbs

• Curb Node Mapping:

barrier=kerb - Literal mapping of curb locations.

Elements

Included below are the Bronze Tier and Silver Tier tags, which represent a good level of detail to aim for while balancing the amount of work required to map pedestrian infrastructure in detail.

For a full listing of tags and their tier classifications, refer to the full schema here.

Sidewalks

• Sidewalk Way Tagging:

highway=footway + footway=sidewalk - Indicate sidewalk location

surface=* - Sidewalk surface material

surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

surface=* - Any other applicable value

Crossings

• Crossing Node and Way Tagging:

crossing:markings=* - Specify presence and type of markings

crossing:markings=no - No markings

crossing:markings=yes - Markings present, type unspecified

crossing:markings=zebra - Zebra markings

crossing:markings=lines - Lines markings

crossing:markings=* - Any other applicable value

crossing:signals=* - Specify presence and type of signalization

crossing:signals=no - No signals

crossing:signals=yes - Signals present, type unspecified

crossing:signals=shared - Vehicle traffic lights only

crossing:signals=dedicated - Dedicated pedestrian traffic signals

crossing:island=* - Presence of pedestrian island

surface=* - Crossing surface material

surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

surface=* - Any other applicable value

• Crossing Way Tagging Only:

highway=crossing - Indicate crossing location

tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence along crossing way

tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present along the entire way

tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present along the entire way

• Crossing Node Tagging Only:

highway=footway + footway=crossing - Indicate crossing location

tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence at curb nodes

tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present at both curbs

tactile_paving=partial - Tactile paving is present at only one curb

tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present at either curb

Curbs

• Curb Node Tagging:

barrier=kerb - Indicate curb location

kerb=* - Specify curb type:

kerb=raised - Raised curb

kerb=lowered - Curb ramp

kerb=flush - Flush curb

tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence

tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present

tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present

Islands

• Traffic Island Way Tagging:

highway=footway + footway=traffic_island - Indicate traffic island location

surface=* - Traffic island surface material

surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

surface=* - Any other applicable value

Access Aisles

• Access Aisle Way Tagging:

highway=footway + footway=access_aisle - Indicate access aisle location

access_aisle:markings=* - Specify presence and type of markings

access_aisle:markings=no - No markings

access_aisle:markings=yes - Markings present, type unspecified

access_aisle:markings=zebra - Zebra markings

access_aisle:markings=ladder:skewed - Skewed ladder markings

access_aisle:markings=* - Any other applicable value

surface=* - Access aisle surface material

surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

surface=* - Any other applicable value

Roadways

• Roadway Way Tagging:

highway=* - Indicate roadway location

sidewalk:side=* (sidewalk:left=* | sidewalk:right=* | sidewalk:both=*)

sidewalk:side=no - No associated sidewalk present

sidewalk:side=separate - Associated sidewalk is present and mapped as separate geometry