Talk:Key:shelter

Should this tag be used only if there is a shelter? Or will it make sense to have shelter=no in some places? The description says "This tag is in use to tell if a highway=bus_stop has a shelter or not. Values: shelter=yes." I guess we should change the description so that it says "Values: shelter=yes/no" or we remove "or not" in the first sentence: "This tag is in use to tell if a highway=bus_stop has a shelter or not ." /FredN

Just had the same question.. I personally decided to tag shelter=no to indicate that it was surveyed not to have a shelter. It's quite common in my area that bus stops have a shelter only on one side (or none at all). However I don't know how/whether any tools are parsing this. --Athalis (talk) 09:53, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

shelter=separate

Why shelter=separate was added? After all, if highway=bus_stop with shelter=yes has no amenity=shelter on its node, then it is trivial to detect nearby mapped amenity=shelter.

Why mapper is supposed to manually handled what is simple to automate by data consumers?

Is adding shelter=separate value to a clear yes/no tag based on some discussion?

Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 22:03, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

If shelter=yes is mapped, it appears as two shelters in statistics. One cannot be sure that a nearby amenity=shelter belongs to this stop. Especially when multiple stops are close to each other. Or the Belgian scenario: there is a stop at both sides of the road, but only one has a shelter because it's easy to cross the road and wait there.

What cut-off distance would you take? Every data consumer would do it differently.

I never mapped shelter=yes because it was duplicate. After I discovered shelter=separate I am not afraid any more. shelter=separate was already in use, I documented it on the wiki. —M!dgard [ talk ] 10:33, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

"I never mapped shelter=yes because it was duplicate" - it is not a duplicate. It is not marking a shelter, it is marking that this bus stop has a shelter Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 11:37, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

"here is a stop at both sides of the road, but only one has a shelter because it's easy to cross the road and wait there" - then one has shelter=no and one shelter=yes. Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 11:37, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

"it appears as two shelters in statistics" - only in badly madly ones. Similarly, one may incorrectly count also shelter=separate Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 11:37, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

I started tagging mailing list thread (Tagging mailing list complaining about shelter=separate and asking about meaning of shelter=yes) Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 09:17, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

After letting it rest for a while I see you're right, just documenting that yes can also mean there's a node nearby is enough. —M!dgard [ talk ] 16:59, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

To ""I never mapped shelter=yes because it was duplicate" - it is not a duplicate. It is not marking a shelter, it is marking that this bus stop has a shelter" – basically, you're right – but we have to be a bit careful that this perspective doesn't spread to other tags – in the sense of, I imagine it like that cycleway=track on a street is not marking a cycleway itself, it is marking that a road has a cycleway (in form of a track). With some of the double tagging that I see here and there some times, you could almost think so :D--Lukas458 (talk) 21:16, 25 March 2023 (UTC)

Why would a separate shelter be mapped with shelter=yes? What is the difference between
* separate shelter + shelter=yes
* separate shelter + shelter=separate?
I suggest only using shelter=yes if the shelter is not mapped as separate. And adjust the documentation accordingly. -- Bernward1 (talk) 21:16, 25 January 2026 (UTC)

I think that shelter=yes should mere indicate presence of shelter, regardless of fact that shelter mapped on not. Reason: shelter=* is property of bus stop, mapping of shelter itself isn't charging that. Mapper always may add fixme=Do map the shelter. Something B (talk) 13:59, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

shelter=separate indicates the presence of shelter too. Therefore, it is more accurate to use a separate shelter + shelter=separate. I wouldn't insert a fixme. There is no need to map individual objects everywhere. Even trash cans and benches are usually not mapped as separate objects.

In rare cases, it may be advantageous to map an object separately. In such cases, there is no reason not to change shelter=yes to shelter=separate. The mapping would then be unambiguous, and no one would have to decide whether to use shelter=yes or shelter=separate. -- Bernward1 (talk) 20:40, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

I think that no reason for change "yes" to "separate" because bus stop isn't changed after that: it still have the shelter. Something B (talk) 20:53, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

You are right, the bus stop isn't change. But it is not good to have two possibilities for the same thing. "separate shelter + shelter=yes" and "separate shelter + shelter=separate" both have the same meaning. Why do you want to be able to map one thing in two ways? I don't understand that. -- Bernward1 (talk) 22:09, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

That is exactly my point: just use "yes". Something B (talk) 22:13, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

I don't understand your conclusion. (just use "yes"). "separate" is 3343 time used. You didn't answer what's good about having two options for the same thing. -- Bernward1 (talk) 07:19, 27 January 2026 (UTC)

shelter=yes and shelter=separate is the same, shelter=separate isn't necessary, just use shelter=yes if feature has a shelter, or shelter=no otherwise, whether shelter is mapped separately isn't relevant. Something B (talk) 08:42, 27 January 2026 (UTC)

I can't agree with you. According to Taginfo, shelter=separate is used 3343 times. A tag that is used so frequently cannot be irrelevant. -- Bernward1 (talk)

Of course, shelter=separate is used, so should be mentioned, but no consensus about it. Summary: data consumers should accept "yes" and "separate" as synonyms, mappers can use either. OK? Something B (talk) 09:35, 27 January 2026 (UTC)