Key:access

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Public-images-osm logo.svg access
WhichAccess.png
Description
For describing the legal accessibility of an element. Edit this description in the wiki page. Edit this description in the data item.
Group: Restrictions
Used on these elements
may be used on nodesmay be used on waysmay be used on areasmay be used on relations
Documented values: 10
Useful combination
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Status: de facto

Tools for this tag

Access values describe restrictions on the use of highways and other transportation routes (railways, waterways), as well as facilities such as buildings, building entrances, amenities and leisure entities.

Access values describe legal permissions/restrictions and should follow ground truth e.g. signage or legal ruling and not introduce guesswork. It does not describe common or typical use, even if signage is generally ignored.

Access restrictions can be very complex, for instance including type, direction, size, and time of traffic - but with care most can be coded as described here. Fortunately standard simple cases are usually also quite simple to tag.

In case of complex situations it may be wise to add a note describing exact signage, especially if it does not follow legal signage rules or rare combinations.

Introductory examples

Car parking without public access

Parking is mapped with amenity=parking. But there are both parking usable by anyone and ones where only some very narrow group can use them.

It is a good idea to mark restricted parkings as a restricted. Add access=private tag to mark it as a parking with heavily restricted access, with general public not allowed to use it.

There are sometimes more complex rules, for example adding access=customers means that only customers may use the parking.

Some parking rules are more complex - limited stay duration and so on. See amenity=parking for more info.

Road with restricted access

Some cases are simple "no entry" - will be typically access=private with no need for further tags

There are some roads with restricted access - roads in factory complexes, on military bases or driveways with clear out of bounds signage or barriers. To mark road as as restricted to only private access, add access=private.

Note that it notes access, not ownership. Many privately owned roads are freely accessible for the general public without prior permission- in such case access=private would be wrong and it may be access=permissive if the owner can revoke this permission at his own discretion . Privately owned roads can even be -depending on the legislation- public roads in the sense that the owner has a legal duty to allow the general public access and is not free to revoke this permission (access=yes).

The use of access=private is not limited to roads, but may also be used to indicate that access for other kinds of objects is restricted - for example to leisure=playground.

Road where residents, pedestrians and cyclists are allowed

It is possible to mark road as accessible for some specific types of traffic. For example a road where only local residents may drive vehicles, but cyclists are still allowed.

To tag this one may use following combination of access tags:

  • vehicle=private - access for vehicles in general is not allowed, but some narrow range may still use it
  • bicycle=yes - cyclists may use it

Example of more complicated situation

Some restrictions require conditional restrictions syntax to record them

A service road (highway=service) with the tag access=customers implies that the road can be used only by customers. There are no other restrictions: customers can arrive by any form of transport, at any time, etc.

But if we add the tag motor_vehicle=no, we understand that only customers may use the road AND only if they are not in a motor vehicle.

Maybe the road is one-way: add the tag oneway=yes.

And if it can only be used during certain times, add 'conditional' and the hours: access:conditional=customers @ (Mo-Fr 08:00-17:00) using conditional restrictions syntax.

Transport mode restrictions

Use the access=* key to describe a general access restriction that applies to all transport modes.

In theory, adding access=yes to highway=footway could be read as changing default restrictions (which usually are foot=yes and vehicle=no for highway=footway) to yes, highway=footway + access=yes means "road, which is open for all pedestrians and vehicles".

In practice, this combination is often used by mappers to modify (rather than enlarge) default values: for example, access=permissive with highway=steps is very unlikely to be traversable by a truck, whatever the tags may say.

To avoid ambiguity, you may therefore want to avoid general tags access=yes and access=permissive, and use more specific transport modes where appropriate. For example, to distinguish a footway with open access from one with private access, use tags like foot=yes instead of access=yes.

Where different restrictions apply to different modes of transport then mode specific tags can be used. These modal tags each have a place in a hierarchy in which keys become narrower in scope as they branch out from the root.

For example:

  • access=no, bus=yes means that only buses are allowed to enter (for example a road only for buses)
  • access=yes, motor_vehicle=no means that all transport modes except motor vehicles can use the element
  • access=forestry, foot=permissive implies that forestry vehicles can use the route legally and that pedestrians can use it by currently but that permission may later be withdrawn. Note that this tagging at the same time prohibits the way for all not explicitly tagged modes of travel, e.g. bicycles and horses which is usually a mistake in combination with forestry. Therefore it is better to use the specific tags and not the general access=* for limitations.

Land-based transportation

This hierarchy is different in each country. So it's possible that your country has vehicle classes which aren't in this list, doesn't have some which are, and some vehicle classes may even have a different definition from the one listed below:

  • access=* (category: any land-based transportation mode)
    • Moving without a vehicle
    • Moving with any vehicle
      • vehicle=* (category: any vehicle)
      • Non-motorized vehicle
        • Single-tracked
        • Double-tracked
      • Motorized vehicle
        • motor_vehicle=* (category: any motorized vehicle)
        • Single-tracked
          • Sinnbild Kraftrad.svg motorcycle=* (a 2-wheeled motor vehicle, allowed to drive on motorways)
          • Sinnbild - Kleinkrafträder und Fahrräder mit Hilfsmotor.svg moped=* (motorized bicycles with a speed restriction; e.g., at most a 50 cc engine or max. speed of about 45 km/h)
          • Sinnbild Mofa.svg mofa=* ("low performance moped", usually with a maximum design speed of 25 km/h)
        • Sinnbild Kfz.svg Double-tracked (category: motor vehicles with more than 2 wheels/more than 1 track)
          • Sinnbild PKW.svg motorcar=* automobiles/cars (in restrictions it can imply the generic class of double-tracked motorized vehicles)
          • Motorhome.svg motorhome=* (a [W] motorhome)
          • Sinnbild Reisebus.svg tourist_bus=* describes a bus that is not acting as a public transport bus service, usually for long-distance travel but not always
          • Sinnbild Reisebus.svg coach=* a bus for long-distance travel, not part of a public transport bus service
          • goods=* (light commercial vehicles; e.g., goods vehicles with a maximum allowed mass of up to 3.5 tonnes)
          • Sinnbild LKW.svg hgv=* (heavy goods vehicle; e.g., goods vehicles with a maximum allowed mass over 3.5 tonnes)
          • Sinnbild Traktor.svg agricultural=* (agricultural motor vehicles; e.g., tractors) that have additional restrictions; e.g., a 25 km/h speed limit)
          • golf_cart=* (golf carts and similar small, low-speed electric vehicles)
          • atv=* a.k.a. Quad (bike) (Restricted to or permissive for vehicles 50 in, 1.27 m, or less in width) still in proposal stage. You may want to use maxwidth=1.27 instead.
          • snowmobile=*
        • By use
          • psv=* (public service vehicle)
            • Sinnbild Kraftomnibus.svg bus=* (a heavy bus acting as a public service vehicle)
            • taxi=* (taxi)
            • minibus=* (a light bus acting as a public service vehicle)
            • share_taxi=* (a light bus acting as demand responsive transit)
          • hov=* (high-occupancy vehicle/carpool, varies by location; e.g., at least one passenger)
          • car_sharing=* (car sharing vehicles)
          • emergency=* (category: emergency motor vehicles; e.g., ambulance, fire truck, police car). Note that emergency vehicles are generally not restricted by *legal* access rules. For places explicitly designated for emergency access consider emergency=designated.
          • hazmat=* (motor vehicles carrying hazardous materials)
            • hazmat:water=* (motor vehicles carrying materials which can pollute water)
          • 15 disabled=* (holders of blue badge, UK, or other such disabled persons' permit. Used on traffic signs to exempt said group from access restrictions; not just regarding parking)

Not in the list

  • Hybrid cars, electric vehicles, other no-emission vehicles (e.g., hydrogen powered). See discussion.
  • Car hire with driver.
  • 4wd_only=*
  • Sinnbild LKW mit Anhänger.svg roadtrain=*: [W] Road train (should that be "hgv_caravan" ?).
    • B-double.png bdouble=*: B-train
    • Other configurations of hgvs - double-B doubles and 2AB quads.
  • lhv=* - longer heavier vehicles (long trucks)
  • [W] Hand cart: a cart that is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
  • [W] Auto rickshaw: a motorized version of the traditional pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw.
  • [W]Kei Cars - Small cars which have limited size, weight, and engine power. Their limited size differentiates them from "regular" motorcars for road access in some countries, such as Japan.

Water-based transportation

  • access=* (category: any water-based transportation mode)
    • Maki-swimming-15.svg swimming=* (use of the waterway or body of water without a craft)
    • boat=* (covers small boats and pleasure crafts, including yachts; in CEVNI: less than 20 m long, might be different in legislations where CEVI is not adopted)
      • motorboat=* (boats and yachts using motor, on way also for sailing boats using the motor)
      • sailboat=* (boats and yachts using sails, on way doing way with sail, not using the motor (according to definition in Colreg and CEVNI)
      • canoe=* (boats without sail or motor, such as small dinghies, canoes, kayaks, etc.)
    • fishing_vessel=* (covers fishing vessels of any size)
    • Maki2-ferry-18.svg ship=* (covers commercial vessels of any size and any trade)
      • passenger=* (ships carrying passengers, either as a scheduled service (ferries, etc.) or as cruise)
      • cargo=* (any type of cargo ship)
      • isps=* (International Ship and Port Facility Security Regulation.)

As suggested, see discussion.

Rail-based transportation

  • access=* (category: any rail-based transportation mode)

List of possible values

The tag takes the form access=*, where * can be any of the following:

Value Description
yes The public has an official, legally-enshrined right of access; i.e., it's a right of way.
no No access for the general public. Consider using additional access (like foot=yes or bicycle=permissive, etc.) to indicate who can use the element. If only specific transport modes are forbidden, for example, at a vehicle no-entry sign, use a more specific restriction like vehicle=no or motor_vehicle=no over the general key access.
private Only with individual permission
permissive Open to general traffic until such time as the owner revokes the permission which they are legally allowed to do at any time in the future.
destination Only when travelling to this element/area; i.e., local traffic only. NOTE: This restriction often only applies to certain modes of transportation (e.g., only to vehicles). Take care to use the right transport mode restriction; e.g., vehicle=destination when only vehicle traffic is restricted.

Sign text in different languages:
English: "except for access" (UK) / "no thru traffic" / "local traffic only" (USA), Dutch: "bestemmingsverkeer"/"uitgezonderd plaatselijk verkeer" (Flanders/Belgium), German: "Anlieger frei"/"ausgenommen Anrainerverkehr" (Austria), French: "Interdit sauf riverains"/"excepté circulation locale" (Wallonie/Belgium), Norwegian: "Gjennomkjøring forbudt"/"ingen gjennomkjøring"/"kun kjøring til eiendommene", Danish: "Gælder kun gennemkørsel".

Note that "access only for residents" is private (for example vehicle=private when applied only to vehicles).

delivery Only when delivering to the element. For example motor_vehicle=delivery on a highway=pedestrian. Status: "approved" Text-x-generic.svg
customers Only for customers of the element. If access is not open to any person willing to pay, consider using private instead. Membership clubs are generally tagged as private.
designated A preferred or designated route for the class of traffic specified by the tag key, such as foot=designated, in general this means that there is a (explicit) sign saying something like "pedestrians allowed", or a pedestrian icon.

Using this value with the plain access key, access=designated, has no meaning, and should not be used. (see #Transport mode restrictions)

For compulsory cycleways mapped as separate ways see bicycle=use_sidepath.

use_sidepath Used to indicate that a mapped parallel way -that belongs to the same road- must be used instead (mostly acting as access=no with some exceptions). A road can legally consist of several ways, such as a single or dual carriageway with parallel tracks for cyclists, mopeds, pedestrians and/or equestrians. Used in countries where these classes must use specific parallel ways when present (following traffic rules, sometimes in conjunction with traffic signs). This tag should only be used to limit specific transport modes (e.g., bicycle=use_sidepath).
dismount Permitted for some vehicle (or animal) only if you dismount. Mostly used for bicycle: Use bicycle=dismount when people are not permitted to cycle (e.g., through a graveyard) but are allowed to dismount and bring the bike. See Bicycle#Bicycle Restrictions. Note that bicycle=no is also commonly used where dismounting and pushing bicycle is legal.
agricultural Only for agricultural traffic. Note a farmer's access track would be private rather than agricultural unless the track is open to any vehicle used for agricultural purposes. Status: "approved" Text-x-generic.svg
forestry Only for forestry traffic. Status: "approved" Text-x-generic.svg
discouraged A legal right of way exists (see yes) but usage is officially discouraged (e.g., HGVs on narrow but passable lanes). Only if marked by a traffic sign (subjective otherwise).
Carnotrec.jpg
unknown The access conditions are unknown or unclear. For the access key, where users might assume access rights by definition or some default, this makes it explicit that the actual situation is not known (since an absent access tag might also be mistaken by some users as being compliant to an assumed default). These tags should therefore not be removed without replacing them with a better alternative

Nodes, ways and areas

Tags of "access" group can be used for nodes, ways and areas. There are different priorities in OSM-community, where to put access tag: to area (usually it is a square, which have some specific conditions of access), to line (usually it is roads inside square) or to node (usually it is gate in barrier, which surrounds square, where there is a possibility to enter the area). Note that access tags mark legal status of territory and barriers and warning signs are only physical reflections of restrictions in area. In such manner, area with private status should have appropriate values, even there is no surrounding barrier or it is broken. Note, that different entrances can have different access values and different roads inside area can have different access values too. For example, we have area with permissive access - so we mark it with access=permissive. But there are several entrances, one of which is designated for all people, and other - only for persons, which have key. So we mark one entrance with access=permissive and other - with access=private. Another example - we have botanical garden with permissive access, which have roads, which are designated for public, and roads, which are designated only for staff of garden. In such case we have access=permissive at one roads and access=private (or access=no) at another.

When you are tagging some area, it is your decision, where to put "access" tags: to area, to entrances or to roads inside area (because nobody can bring you to add some tags somewhere), but removal of correct tags, which were put but someone else, is a mistake (and is close to vandalism). If you like to put tags to areas, do it, if you like to put tags to roads inside areas, do it, if you like to put tags to entrances, do it. But don't delete tags from type of elements, which you don't like.

Facility restrictions

Access can be tagged on facilities, typically including

Access time and other conditional restrictions

For a full description and more examples, please see the conditional restrictions page.

Restrictions may be limited to a particular time or day. Or they may limit the access for vehicles over a certain weight. Such conditions can be tagged as shown in these tagging examples:

  1. Only destination access is permitted during 8am and 5pm on Mondays to Fridays:
    access:conditional=destination @ (Mo-Fr 08:00-17:00)
  2. Motor vehicles heavier than 5 tonnes may only access this street for the purpose of delivering goods:
    motor_vehicle:conditional=delivery @ (weight>5)

Please note that the above tagging style can be used to replace the following time dependent restrictions. It has been suggested that they be deprecated and should therefore no longer be used. date_on=*, date_off=*, day_on=*, day_off=*, hour_on=*, hour_off=*. Also note, that using of conditional tag assumes overt indication of value, which mostly suites as a default value. For example, if access is open on one part of day (on this part of day access=permissive) and is closed on other part of day (on this part of day access=private), we have a situation, when we should mark the object with a tag access=permissive or access=private. There is no concrete, precise and universal algorithm to define, if we should use permissive or private in concrete situation, but we can definitely say, that in such case we can't use access=yes (or not use tag access at all), because access=yes (or absence of tag access) means round-the-clock open access for general public.

Size and statutory restrictions

A number of statutory restrictions based on height, width, weight, etc. can also be defined. A assumed units are the appropriate SI unit and should be specified without any suffix. For lengths use metres, for weights use metric tonnes and for times use hours. Decimal numbers should include a decimal point. Exceptions include speeds which should be in mph in places where speed limits are defined in these units and times which can include a suffix of 'days' if appropriate.

  • maxaxleload=* - The legal maximum axleload in metric tonnes.
  • maxheight=* - The legal maximum height in metres
  • maxheight:physical=* - The maximum height in metres
  • maxlength=* - The legal maximum length in metres
  • maxspeed=* - Specifies the maximum legal speed limit on a road, railway or waterway (km/h by default, mph where specified)
  • maxstay=* - Maximum time you are allowed to stay somewhere. (maximum parking time)
  • maxweight=* - permissible maximum actual weight
  • maxweightrating=* - Legal access restriction for vehicles with a max allowed weight above the specified weight in metric tonnes.
  • maxwidth=* - The legally restricted maximum width of a vehicle (also note width=* for the physical width of the entire road.)
  • mindistance=* - minimum trailing distance, often as mindistance:hgv=* on old bridges or in tunnels
  • minspeed=* - Specifies the minimum speed limit on a road, railway or waterway.
  • maxdraught=* -

Routing restrictions

One-way restrictions

Ways may have different access restrictions for each direction. The most simple case is a way designated as a oneway road:

oneway=yes
Driving is only allowed in the direction of the way.
oneway=-1
Driving is only allowed against the direction of the way. If possible reverse the direction of the way and tag with oneway=yes.
oneway=no
Not normally used, as two-way traffic is the default. Use only where another tag (such as highway=motorway) implies oneway=yes.

Exceptions to 'one-way' and related special cases

For more complex direction dependent restrictions, the postfixes :backward and :forward can be used on the keys, for example:

bicycle:backward=yes
When cyclists are allowed to travel in both directions on a oneway street (but no lane is present).
bicycle:backward=no
When a road has a oneway cycleway next to it that must be used, and a cyclelane in the other direction.

Also in use when cyclists are allowed to travel in the opposite direction:

cycleway=opposite
cycleway=opposite_lane
Only if a separate lane exists.
cycleway=opposite_track
Only if a separate track exists.
oneway:bicycle=no
Consistent with tags based on conditions. Note: This was previously tagged as "bicycle:oneway=no", but this is deprecated.

The oneway tag can be translated (for routing purposes) to this generic system as follows (oneway restrictions presumably do not apply to pedestrians):

Lane dependent restrictions

Main article: Lanes

Access restrictions may differ between lanes.

hgv:lanes=no|yes|yes
Heavy good vehicles are not allowed on the leftmost lane of a road with three lanes.
bus:lanes:forward=no|yes|designated
Buses are not allowed on the leftmost lane of a road with three lanes in forward direction. The rightmost lane is a designated bus lane.

Turn restrictions

Main article: Turn restriction

Further examples

  • bicycle=yes The public has a right of way when travelling on a bicycle.
  • horse=designated The route is designated for use by equestrians.
  • motorcycle=unknown It is unclear whether motorcycles can use this section.
  • motorcar=private The owner must give access to cars on an individual basis. Access by car is private; e.g., on a private road.
  • goods=no General goods vehicle traffic is not allowed.
  • hgv=no Heavy goods vehicle traffic is not allowed.
  • boat=no Waterway is not available for boat traffic.
  • oneway=yes + psv=opposite_lane The street is one way for cars but there is one opposite lane for buses and taxis.
  • maxweight=7 The weight limit is 7 tonnes.
  • maxaxleload=3.5 The restricted weight limit per axle in tonnes; e.g., 3.5 t.
  • maxheight=2.5 The maximum vehicle height is 2.5 meters.
  • maxdraught=1 The maximum boat draught is 1 meter.
  • maxspeed=110 The maximum speed limit is 110 km/h.
  • maxspeed=55 mph The maximum speed limit is 55 mph.
  • maxstay=14 days The maximum stay permitted; units in the tag as either hour/hours or day/days.
A one-way street with a contra-flow cycle lane

A one-way street with a cycle lane in the opposite direction:

Mismatch between law and de facto status

In some regions, at least for some modes of transport there is a complete mismatch between what is officially legal access and what is actually treated seriously[1]. Currently OSM has no known good method to tag this (bicycle=no bicycle:de_facto=yes?).

Currently some mappers put actually enforced status into access tags, rather than what is legal[2].

Possible Tagging Mistakes

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2020-May/052880.html
  2. ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2020-May/052947.html
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