User:Rjw62/PRoW Tagging
Identifying Routes and adding appropriate Designation and Access Tags
Suggested tagging for Public Rights of Way and related routes.
| Type | Access Rights & Notes | Designation Tag | Minimum Access Tags[1] | Typical Signage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Footpath | Access for pedestrians (including pushchairs and wheelchairs) but not other users. | public_footpath |
|
 
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| Public Bridleway | Access for pedestrians, horse-riders, and cyclists. (Cycling is legally permitted, but cyclists must give way to other users, and the route does not have to be maintained to a standard to make cycling physically possible.) | public_bridleway |
|
 
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| Restricted Byway | Access for pedestrians, horse-riders, cyclists, and other non-mechanically-propelled vehicles (eg a horse and cart). | restricted_byway |
|
 
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| Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT) | Access for all traffic, including motor vehicles.
However, access for motor vehicles may be restricted by a separate Traffic Regulation Order for some or all months of the year.[4] |
byway_open_to_all_traffic |
|
 
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| Type | Access Rights & Notes | Designation Tag | Minimum Access Tags | Typical Signage | |
| Unclassified Highway | Access for all traffic, including motor vehicles.
Some rough country tracks are officially public highways, though are not surfaced and not maintained to a standard to allow normal vehicles to drive along them. Nevertheless there is still a right to use them as with any public highway. Such routes are typically marked as "Other Route with Public Access" on Ordnance Survey maps. Like BOATs, Unclassified Highways may be subject to Traffic Regulation Orders, which ban motorised vehicles for all or some of the year.[4] |
unclassified_highway[5] |
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|
 
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| Adopted Footway | Access for pedestrians.
This is officially a Public Highway, but with access restricted to pedestrians. Such routes will appear on the Local Authority's "List of Streets Maintainable at the Public Expense", and is a common designation for urban footpaths linking roads in towns and cities. |
adopted_footway |
| ||
| Public Cycle Track | Access for pedestrians and cyclists.
This is officially a Public Highway, but with access restricted to pedestrians and cyclists. Recent legislation allows local councils to upgrade Public Footpaths and Adopted Footways to Cycle Tracks in order to legally allow cycling. The designation is commonly used for cycle paths in an urban setting. |
public_cycleway | |||
| Type | Access Rights & Notes | Designation Tag | Minimum Access Tags | Typical Signage | |
| Permissive Footpath | Permissive access for pedestrians (including pushchairs and wheelchairs) but not other users. | permissive_footpath[6] |
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| Permissive Bridleway | Permissive access for pedestrians, horse-riders, and probably cyclists but not other vehicles. | permissive_bridleway[7][8] |
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| Permissive Cycle Path | Permissive access for pedestrians (usually) and cyclists but not other users. | permissive_cycleway | |||
| Type | Access Rights & Notes | Designation Tag | Minimum Access Tags | Typical Signage | |
| Road Used as a Public Path (RUPP) | Obsolete classification, with unclear access rights.
Local Authorities were asked to re-classify these as one of the other types of Right of Way. All remaining RUPPs automatically became Restricted Byways on 2nd May 2006. So tag as such, possibly leaving a fixme=* if you're not sure of the new designation. |
restricted_byway |
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| Other Route with Public Access (ORPA) | An class of route invented by Ordnance Survey to include on their maps.
This classification itself has no legal status, and since the only possible Source is an OS Map, it should not be included in OpenStreetMap. Often routes marked in this way on Ordnance Survey maps are unsurfaced tracks that are legally an Unclassified Highway. If the designation as an Unclassified Highway can be confirmed from an acceptable source, then the tags from that line above can be used in OSM. | ||||
In addition to the values of designation=* in the table above, two other place-holder values are recommended, when full information is not available:
- designation=public_right_of_way -- for when the route is known to be one of the first four types (Public Footpath, Public Bridleway, Restricted Byway, or Byway Open to All Traffic) but it is not known which. (This is often useful when an official sign has been observed while travelling by car, but the text cannot be made out.)
- designation=unknown_byway -- for when the route is known to be one of the two byway types (Restricted Byway, or Byway Open to All Traffic) but it is not known which.
Adding Official Reference Numbers
County Councils and Unitary Authorities have a duty to record Public Rights of Way in an official document called the Definitive Map and Statement. To do this, each Right of Way is given a unique name/number within the authority area. Usually the Rights of Way are numbered by civil parish, with names of the form "Springfield Footpath no. 3" etc. These names/numbers can be recorded in OSM using the prow_ref=* tag. For consistency in formatting, I would recommend adopting the common format "[Parish Name] [Type Code] [Number]", where [Type Code] is either FP (public footpath), BR (public bridleway), RB (restricted byway), or BY (byway open to all traffic); unless the Surveying Authority has it's own consistent numbering format/system.
Routes not following the Definitive Line
Sometimes the route available / used on the ground will differ from the official Definitive Line recorded by the Council. In such cases, the legal Right of Way exists along the Definitive Line whether or not it is actually physically accessible. If data on the Definitive Lines is available under an appropriate licence it would be useful to add this to OSM, along with appropriate tagging to indicate its status and accessibility. Any alternative route used instead should also be mapped, but should not be tagged as a Public Right of Way. My tagging suggestions for the various cases are as follows:
| Tagging for Definitive Line | Tagging for Actual Route Used | |
|---|---|---|
| Definitive Line matches route used and physically obvious on ground
e.g. a path the follows a farm track, or a path through woods where there is evidence of usage. |
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| No route visible on ground, but definitive line accessible
e.g. a cross-field path over a pasture, where there is insufficient use to leave physical evidence of the path on the ground |
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| Definitive Line differs from route used on ground but is still accessible
e.g. a cross-field definitive line, where the route visible on the ground follows the field edge, or a different line has been reinstated across the field |
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| Definitive Line obstructed and alternative route used on ground
e.g. path takes a detour through a nearby gate, when the definitive line goes straight through a hedge |
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Notes
- ↑ Access tags should really be added for completeness, and for the benefit of data users, but the most important thing is to get the designation=* tag entered. Sometimes there will be additional access rights to those conferred by the Public Right of Way (e.g. if a footpath is also a Public Highway or a Permissive Bridleway). Occasionally, there will fewer rights (e.g. a traffic regulation order may ban certain classes or user).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 The *=no tags here aren't strictly necessary, as the default will be no access by other modes. I wouldn't usually include them, unless there is likely to be confusion.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A restrictive motor_vehicle=* tag is needed here, to over-ride the blanket vehicle=yes and ensure it only applies to non-motorised vehicles. motor_vehicle=no will often not be appropriate though, as the land-owner can have private rights. motor_vehicle=private (e.g. for a farm track on private land) or motor_vehicle=destination (e.g. for an access lane to houses) are likely to be more appropriate.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 If this is the case, then it will be indicated with a "No Motor Vehicles" traffic sign (a black motor cycle and a car on a white background inside a red circle). To tag this in OSM, please add the correct designation=* tag and appropriate access tags to capture the additional restriction. It would also be helpful to add a note=* to explain the apparent contradiction between the designation and access tags.
- ↑ This only really needs to be used if the physical condition of the route means it is given a highway=* tag other than highway=unclassified (or any higher road value).
- ↑ Only add the designation=permissive_footpath if the route is explicitly signed as such.
- ↑ Only add the designation=permissive_bridleway if the route is explicitly signed as such.
- ↑ If the route is also a Public Footpath, then use designation=public_footpath;permissive_bridleway.