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

This is a quick-start guide for pedestrian infrastructure mapping developed by the Pedestrian Working Group.

A full tagging schema for pedestrian infrastructure mapping is available here.

Questions? Email pedestrian@openstreetmap.us!

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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 Error creating thumbnail: Silver Tier symbol.

Mapping Guidelines

Sidewalks

• Sidewalk Way Mapping:

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

Crossings

• Crossing Node Mapping:

highway=crossing - Node attached to the intersecting road, indicating the location of a crossing.

• Crossing Way Mapping:

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

⚠️ NOTE: The tactile_paving=* tag is common on footway=crossing ways, but often incorrect because the tag, when applied to ways, is meant to indicate linear wayfinding tactile paving that is present along the entire way. This is exceedingly rare in the United States, so please review this section of the tactile_paving=* page for additional information and fix the tactile_paving=* tag if it is present and incorrect!

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 Error creating thumbnail: 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

Error creating thumbnail: surface=* - Sidewalk surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=* - Any other applicable value

Crossings

• Crossing Way Tagging Only:

highway=footway + footway=crossing - Indicate crossing location

• Crossing Node Tagging Only:

highway=crossing - Indicate crossing location

Error creating thumbnail: tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence at curb nodes

Error creating thumbnail: tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present at both curbs

Error creating thumbnail: tactile_paving=partial - Tactile paving is present at only one curb

Error creating thumbnail: tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present at either curb

• 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

Error creating thumbnail: crossing:markings=zebra - Zebra markings

Error creating thumbnail: crossing:markings=lines - Lines markings

Error creating thumbnail: crossing:markings=* - Any other applicable value

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

crossing:signals=no - No signals

crossing:signals=yes - Signals present

Error creating thumbnail: crossing:island=* - Presence of pedestrian island

Error creating thumbnail: surface=* - Crossing surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=* - Any other applicable value

Curbs

• Curb Node Tagging:

Error creating thumbnail: barrier=kerb - Indicate curb location

Error creating thumbnail: kerb=* - Specify curb type:

Error creating thumbnail: kerb=raised - Raised curb

Error creating thumbnail: kerb=lowered - Curb ramp

Error creating thumbnail: kerb=flush - Flush curb

Error creating thumbnail: tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence

Error creating thumbnail: tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present

Error creating thumbnail: tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present

Islands

• Traffic Island Way Tagging:

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

Error creating thumbnail: surface=* - Traffic island surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=* - Any other applicable value

Access Aisles

• Access Aisle Way Tagging:

Error creating thumbnail: highway=footway + footway=access_aisle - Indicate access aisle location

Error creating thumbnail: access_aisle:markings=* - Specify presence and type of markings

Error creating thumbnail: access_aisle:markings=no - No markings

Error creating thumbnail: access_aisle:markings=yes - Markings present, type unspecified

Error creating thumbnail: access_aisle:markings=zebra - Zebra markings

Error creating thumbnail: access_aisle:markings=ladder:skewed - Skewed ladder markings

Error creating thumbnail: access_aisle:markings=* - Any other applicable value

Error creating thumbnail: surface=* - Access aisle surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=concrete - Concrete surface material

Error creating thumbnail: surface=asphalt - Asphalt surface material

Error creating thumbnail: 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

In-editor Examples

In many cases, centerlines break down as a model for complex intersections of footways. At intersections of three or more footways, it is often necessary to position the intersection point at the centroid of each incoming way. At the top left of this image, the intersection of seven converging footways is smoothed by creating multiple intersection points. When mapping intersections like this, it's important to consider directions of travel: if a pedestrian were to enter this intersection via way A and exit via way B, could their route be reasonably drawn along these centerlines?

In this example, two access aisles enter a parking lot across from each other. While a footway=access_aisle way ends where painted markings end, it is valuable here to connect the access aisles with an unmarked crossing to denote this navigable route.

At this corner, two perpendicular sidewalk centerlines cross but individually continue to meet the curb at two locations. Notably, one direction of travel has a curb ramp with tactile paving while the other one does not.

In this example, it makes sense to have the sidewalk centerlines at an intersection extend out to respective curb ramps. However, their ways are still split similar to "stubs" in other examples. This is so that we can tag surface=concrete rather than surface=paving_stones where appropriate.

A typical intersection corner with sidewalk centerlines mapped. Two perpendicular sidewalks converge at a single curb ramp, with a sidewalk stub connecting out to a lowered curb node and crossing ways.

Here, two curb ramps are installed at a single corner to serve crossings in different directions. Multiple stub ways are used to connect them to sidewalk centerlines to the north.

An example of a rounded corner with two curb ramps. The ramps are separated by a curb (not mapped). Separate sidewalk stubs connect each ramp to the sidewalk centerline.

Sometimes pedestrian infrastructure elements interact with driveways. Here, a marked crossing ends at a driveway (highlighted way) on its east side. The driveway apron in this example qualifies as a lowered curb.

PWG Guide and PWG Schema Releases

PWG Guide Releases
Latest	Permanent link to latest version: wiki.osm.org/PWG_Guide
Draft	Permanent link to latest draft: wiki.osm.org/PWG_Guide_Draft
Talk	Permanent link to talk page: wiki.osm.org/PWG_Guide_Talk
Version	Date	Changelog
1.0.1	2026-01-30	• Fix inclusion of footway tag on crossing nodes
1.0.0	2025-11-19	• Initial release
1.0.0-beta	2025-05-23	• Initial pre-release

PWG Schema Releases
Latest	Permanent link to latest version: wiki.osm.org/PWG_Schema
Draft	Permanent link to latest draft: wiki.osm.org/PWG_Schema_Draft
Talk	Permanent link to talk page: wiki.osm.org/PWG_Schema_Talk
Version	Date	Changelog
1.0.1	2026-03-28	• Fix inclusion of surface and width tags on crossing nodes
1.0.0	2025-11-19	• Initial release
1.0.0-beta	2025-05-23	• Initial pre-release