Key:crossing

crossing
Description
Further refinement for nodes already tagged with highway=crossing or railway=crossing
Group: Crossings
Used on these elements
Documented values: 7
Requires
highway=crossing or railway=crossing or footway=crossing or path=crossing
Useful combination
crossing_ref=* tactile_paving=* crossing:island=* flashing_lights=* kerb=* supervised=* lit=* wheelchair=*
Status: approved
Tools for this tag
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This tag is used for more accurately describing specific types of pedestrian crossings across roads and other types of crossing over road or rail. Crossing infrastructure for the convenience of pedestrians, cyclists etc. should first be tagged with highway=crossing or railway=crossing as appropriate. The specific type of crossing may be further specified with the crossing=* tag and other properties described below.

The tag is set for the node where both ways are crossing (footway and street, street and railway and so on). For detailed mapping it may be useful to additionally tag ways leading from a sidewalk to the crossing node with footway=crossing or cycleway=crossing as appropriate.

The crossing tag

(Note: In American English, a "crosswalk" is either a marked crossing or a signalized crossing, but not an unmarked, unsignalized crossing.)

Approved tags

crossing=traffic_signals

A crossing with traffic signals. (May or may not feature road markings.) Mostly near highway=traffic_signals.

The bicycle crossing traverses two carriageways and some tram tracks with one traffic light. The pedestrian crossing has two islands with separate traffic lights.

crossing=uncontrolled

A generic crossing with no traffic signals of any type, just road markings; e.g., zebra-crossings.

Mostly in combination with highway=crossing.

crossing=unmarked

A crossing without road markings or traffic lights.

crossing=no

Where definitely no crossing is possible/legal. Used at places where one would expect a crossing, but where there isn't one. As crossing=no excludes the existence of a crossing, it must be used without highway=crossing.

Other used tags

crossing=marked

any marked crossing which hasn’t traffic lights. Duplicate of crossing=uncontrolled and in case of zebra markings crossing=zebra, i.e. a crossing with road markings, but no traffic lights.

crossing=zebra

A crossing marked with a striped pattern, but no traffic lights. In some countries, it gives priority to crossing pedestrians over vehicle traffic. Note that in some countries (e.g. in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, or United States), crossings with traffic lights are also marked with a striped pattern. However, tagging should give precedence to the traffic lights.

This tag was initially documented as England only, but with the temporary adoption by iD editor has gained worldwide usage.

crossing=* + crossing_ref=zebra is a more popular alternative to indicate that a crossing is marked with a stripped pattern independent of the presence of traffic lights.

crossing=island

Note: It is recommended to use the newer tag crossing:island=yes instead, which can be used in addition to crossing=traffic_signals/uncontrolled/unmarked.

Note: If a path on a traffic island is mapped separately from the crossings, use footway=traffic_island with highway=footway instead.

A crossing with a small traffic island for pedestrians in the middle of the road. Because this tag is orthogonal to traffic_signals/uncontrolled/unmarked classification, tagging highway=crossing with crossing=island makes it impossible to distinguish between crossing=traffic_signals and crossing=uncontrolled. For this reason, many editors do not use this tag, and some consider it as a broken tagging scheme.

Some mappers add crossing=island to the highway=footway + footway=crossing way on the traffic island.

Additional tags

Preferred method for tagging a marked crossing as a way with kerbs.

Accessibility

See also section Traffic signals below.

kerb=yes/no/raised/regular/rolled/lowered/flush/...

Used to indicate the height or type and thus accessibility of a kerb. On crossing ways, it is preferred to use barrier=kerb + kerb=* on a node as part of the crossing way. Alternatively, on the crossing node, kerb:left=* and kerb:right=* can be used.

For routing, it is important that barrier=kerb + kerb=* should not be on the crossing node that intersects with the road. In addition to that, the kerb node should not be connected to the sidewalk way as that can prevent accessibility routing along the adjacent sidewalk.

tactile_paving=yes/(no)/incorrect

To indicate whether there is a pattern in the ground to aid the blind. Can be used on a node in conjunction with kerb=*.

Designation

crossing_ref=*

The traditional, region-specific reference, such as toucan or pelican. Only add this tag if the reference is in common use in the region. The examples shown below are used in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Mode of transport

bicycle=*

A value of yes means that pedal cyclists are permitted to ride across the crossing.

horse=*

A value of yes means that horse riders are permitted to ride across the crossing.

segregated=yes/no

A value of yes indicates that crossing traffic of differing types is segregated from each other (that is, there is a separate crossing area for each mode of transport). At many traffic lights, crossing foot and bicycle traffic are segregated. A more regional example is the segregation of horse and foot traffic within some UK Pegasus crossings.

Like many others, this parameter is  boolean, i.e. it can take the values yes or no. Different from several other Boolean parameters, in this case no default is assumed.

Support

Crossing nodes are shared by both the road and the crossing way. A no value for an access tag like bicycle=* or horse=* on a highway=crossing node is meant to apply only to traffic on the crossing, not on the main road: (highway=crossing + bicycle=no) means that cyclists must dismount before crossing the road; it does not mean that cyclists on road must do this.

Nevertheless, most routers do not support this, which may lead to potentially undesired effects like blocking routing along the road for cyclists.

You may ask router authors to add support for this tagging. In most cases it is also possible to use more detailed tagging and split the crossing way into parts and add bicycle=no on applicable parts.

Traffic signals

button_operated=yes/no

Crossing light and/or sound on a traffic signal can be requested by a bicycle rider or pedestrian via button press.

traffic_signals:sound=yes/no

Pedestrian traffic with sound for the visually impaired.

traffic_signals:vibration=yes/no

Pedestrian traffic signals with vibration for the visually impaired.

Other features

crossing:island=yes/no

Indicates whether the crossing has a refuge island.

supervised=yes/no

A value of yes indicates that the crossing may be managed by a  Crossing guard at busy times. The default is no.

flashing_lights=yes/no/always/button/sensor

A value of yes indicates that flashing lights warn drivers when a pedestrian is crossing. The default is no. For more detail, consider using a value of button, sensor (if the lights turn on automatically), or always (if the lights are constantly flashing).

Examples

The following table shows how the crossing might be tagged:

Description (and local name)	Tags	Image
A crossing for pedestrians only and no traffic lights (but may have a flashing amber globes on poles in some regions such as in the United Kingdom) The crossing often has distinctive white stripes on the road. It may have additional protections, such as reduction of lanes, or other speed limitation signals and enforcement devices on the ground. If the street is large enough, the crossing mays also be protected by trafic separation islands (see below). In some locations this is known as a zebra crossing. See also Zebra crossing on Wikipedia	highway=crossing crossing=uncontrolled crossing_ref=zebra (only add this if the named reference is in common use in the place being mapped)
A crossing for pedestrians only with traffic lights (button operated or not). This is the most common type of crossings in dense urban areas of cities (at least in Europe), but sometimes used also in smaller towns or villages, more rarely used in residential areas with low traffic. On large enough streets, they are frequently equipped with a separation islands (see below) where crossers can rest: crossing the street is then performed in two steps, with distinct traffic lights for pedestrians for each side of the street, so the crossing zigzags on the central island and its footway is sometimes restricted by barriers. In some locations this is known as a Pelican crossing (traditional British name from pedestrian light controlled crossing). See also Pelican crossing on Wikipedia.	highway=crossing crossing=traffic_signals bicycle=no traffic_signals:sound=yes/no traffic_signals:vibration=yes/no traffic_signals:arrow=yes/no traffic_signals:minimap=yes/no crossing_ref=pelican (only add this if the named reference is in common use in the place being mapped)
A crossing for pedestrians and cyclists with no traffic lights (but may have a flashing amber globes on poles in some regions such as in the United Kingdom). It often has distinctive white stripes on the road however the dedicated lane for cyclists is often unstriped. In some locations this is known as a Tiger crossing. Use of this reference name is mostly limited to Hong Kong; most in the United Kingdom have replaced by toucan crossings with traffic lights. See also Tiger crossing on Wikipedia.	highway=crossing crossing=uncontrolled bicycle=yes crossing_ref=tiger (only add this if the named reference is in common use in the place being mapped)
A crossing for pedestrians and cyclists with traffic lights (button-operated or not). This is very similar to the crossing with traffic lights above, but it's larger and there's an explicit signal for cyclists. In France, a segregated crossing lane for cyclists may be bordered by distinctively colored dashed lines. In some locations this is known as a Toucan crossing (traditional British name, like "two-can"). See also Toucan crossing on Wikipedia.	highway=crossing crossing=traffic_signals bicycle=yes segregated=yes/no traffic_signals:sound=yes/no traffic_signals:vibration=yes/no traffic_signals:arrow=yes/no traffic_signals:minimap=yes/no crossing_ref=toucan (only add this if the named reference is in common use in the place being mapped)
A crossing for pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders with traffic lights (button-operated or not, often identified not by a crossing rideway but by very high buttons for the riders). In some locations (e.g. the United Kingdom) this is known as a Pegasus crossing (traditional British name). See also Pegasus crossing on Wikipedia.	highway=crossing crossing=traffic_signals bicycle=yes horse=yes segregated=yes/no traffic_signals:arrow=yes/no traffic_signals:minimap=yes/no traffic_signals:sound=yes/no traffic_signals:vibration=yes/no crossing_ref=pegasus (only add this if the named reference is in common use in the place being mapped)
A pedestrian crossover (also known as PXO) with or without flashing lights, requires drivers to yield the whole roadway to pedestrians. Drivers must stop and wait until pedestrians finish crossing the street. Common in Canada, always accompanied by "Stop for pedestrians" sign. Usually used around schools and on roundabouts - see definition in Ontario rule book.	highway=crossing crossing=uncontrolled segregated=no flashing_lights=button/sensor/no crossing_ref=pxo (only add this if the named reference is in common use in the place being mapped)
An unmarked crossing with sloped curbs.	highway=crossing crossing=unmarked kerb=flush (on nodes of highway=footway at curb).
A crossing with a traffic island (implicit mapping with a property or explicitly to mark a footway or similar on a traffic island crossing).	highway=crossing crossing=uncontrolled and crossing:island=yes The following method is obsolete: crossing=island (or crossing=traffic_signals, as appropriate), rarely you can find crossing=island;uncontrolled Uses multiple values
A supervised crossing (additional property) Called a school crossing in the United Kingdom, Schülerlotsen or Verkehrshelfer in Germany, Klaar-over in the Netherlands. See also Crossing guard on Wikipedia.	highway=crossing crossing=* as appropriate supervised=yes
Traffic signals without a pedestrian crossing. May be found to give priority to public transport, emergency or special vehicles, when they enter/exit an access service highway (e.g. in first image). May be found used to alternate the direction of traffic on narrow highways (e.g. in second image before entering a bridge). But the crossing with this traffic signal is not suitable for safe pedestrian crossing.	highway=traffic_signals crossing=no

Tagging crossings as ways

Some mappers tag a way segment of a highway=footway or highway=cycleway that crosses multiple roads and/or railways with crossing=traffic_signals to indicate that there is only one traffic light controlling the cyclist or pedestrian, to avoid multiple nodes being tagged as crossings.

Similarly, a way segment of a highway=footway is being tagged crossing=uncontrolled + crossing_ref=zebra to indicate its full length.

Disadvantage: Please note that this mapping style makes it difficult for routers and navigation systems to recognise that there is a crossing for pedestrians or cyclists along the road since there is no special crossing node on the route being evaluated.

Better alternative: For "controlled crossings" with traffic signals or give-way/stop signs you can add the place where you have to stop/where the traffic light or stop sign is as node with highway=traffic_signals, highway=give_way or highway=stop.

See also

• Approved features/Road crossings - the original proposal for this tag
• Cycle routes - closely linked with many toucan crossings
• Proposed features/Traffic island - an abandoned proposal about traffic islands
• Proposed features/crossing=marked - a proposal on crossing=marked as a solution to a semantic problem of certain crossing tags
• Proposed features/Unambiguous crossings - a page for organising other proposals about improving this key

External links

•  Pedestrian crossing - international differences and terminology
• Crosswalks - San Francisco Better Streets