Draft:Foundation/Local Chapters/United States/Pedestrian Working Group/Schema
 | This schema document is still under active construction - consider other Wiki pages to be more authoritative in cases of conflicting information! |
This is a work-in-progress draft of a full tagging schema for pedestrian infrastructure mapping developed by the Pedestrian Working Group. Questions? Email pedestrian@openstreetmap.us!
A work-in-progress draft of a quick-start guide for pedestrian infrastructure mapping is available here.
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 Silver Tier symbol.
Bronze
Description: Basic geometry and essential tags are present to form an independent navigable pedestrian network consisting of sidewalks and crossings.
Implementation:
- Sidewalks and crossings are mapped as separate ways.
- Essential information about crossings is tagged, such as whether or not markings and signals are present.
- Sidewalk presence tags on roadways are updated to use sidewalk:side=no/separate.
- no is particularly important because it helps mappers and data consumers understand where it has been confirmed that sidewalks are not present.
- Any existing properties of the sidewalks which were previously mapped on the roadway, such as sidewalk:left:surface=concrete, should be moved from the roadway to the sidewalks.
Silver
Description: Detailed geometry and tagging is present to enable accessibility-focused applications and basic visualizations.
Implementation:
- Sidewalk geometry at intersections is well-represented with ways added where necessary between curbs and sidewalk centerlines
- Detailed information about features is tagged, such as curb types and surface materials.
Gold
Description: Micromapping and highly detailed tagging is present, which enables router customization for various types of mobility-impaired users and for detailed representation of the environment for institutional use.
Implementation:
- area:highway=footway - area representations of pedestrian features are mapped.
- Note: Requires fallback representation of paths of travel as ways at centerlines!
- Highly detailed tags may be present to enable use cases outside of routing for everyday users, such as informing policy-making decisions
- Small features, such as call buttons and pedestrian signal lights may be mapped separately.
Diamond
Description: Tags and mapping methods that are on the line or just outside of the PWG Schema's scope but still recognized. These tags may require specialized tools or expertise to survey or calculate, or are only regionally specific, extremely uncommon, or still in a proposed state and without widespread usage.
Implementation:
Tagging Guidelines
Sidewalks
Sidewalk Way Tagging:
highway=footway + footway=sidewalk - Indicate sidewalk location
surface=* - Sidewalk surface material
- tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence along crossing way
- tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present along the entire way
- tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present along the entire way
tactile_paving:colour=* - Specify tactile paving color
lit=* - Lighting presence- width=* - Sidewalk width
- incline=* - Incline along way (for hilly areas)
- incline:across=* - Incline across way
Crossings
Crossing Way Tagging Only:
- highway=footway + footway=crossing - Indicate crossing location
- tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence along crossing way
- tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present along the entire way
- tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present along the entire way
- tactile_paving:colour=* - Specify tactile paving color
- Crossing Node Tagging Only:
- highway=crossing - Indicate crossing location
- tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence at curb nodes
- tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present at both curbs
- tactile_paving=partial - Tactile paving is present at only one curb
- tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present at either curb
- tactile_paving:colour=* - Specify tactile paving color
- 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
- crossing:markings=zebra - Zebra markings
- crossing:markings=lines - Lines markings
- crossing:markings=* - Any other applicable value
- crossing:signals=* - Specify presence and type of signalization
- crossing:signals=no - No signals
- crossing:signals=yes - Signals present, type unspecified
- crossing:signals=shared - Vehicle traffic lights only
- crossing:signals=dedicated - Dedicated pedestrian traffic signals
- button_operated=* - Presence of push button for crossing
- traffic_signals:arrow=* - Presence of tactile arrow
- traffic_signals:vibration=* - Presence of vibration signals
- traffic_signals:floor_vibration=* - Presence of surface vibration signals
- traffic_signals:minimap=* - Presence of tactile minimap
- traffic_signals:sound=* - Presence of acoustic signals
- traffic_signals:sound=no - No acoustic signals
- traffic_signals:sound=yes - Acoustic signals present
- traffic_signals:sound=locate - Acoustic signals present for finding button only
- traffic_signals:sound=walk - Acoustic signals present for walk permission only
- crossing:island=* - Presence of pedestrian island
Curbs
- Curb Node Tagging:
- barrier=kerb - Indicate curb location
- kerb=* - Specify curb type:
- tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence
- tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present
- tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present
- tactile_paving:colour=* - Specify color of tactile paving
- kerb:height=* - Specify (raised) curb height
- kerb=no - Specify there is no curb
- tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence
- tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present
- tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present
- tactile_paving:colour=* - Specify color of tactile paving
Islands
- Traffic Island Way Tagging:
- highway=footway + footway=traffic_island - Indicate traffic island location
- surface=* - Traffic island surface material
- lit=* - Lighting presence
- width=* - Traffic island width
- incline=* - Incline along way (for hilly areas)
- incline:across=* - Incline across way
- tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence
- tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present
- tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present
- tactile_paving:colour=* - Specify color of tactile paving
Access Aisles
- Access Aisle Way Tagging:
- highway=footway + footway=access_aisle - Indicate access aisle location
- access_aisle:markings=* - Specify presence and type of markings
- access_aisle:markings=no - No markings
- access_aisle:markings=yes - Markings present, type unspecified
- access_aisle:markings=zebra - Zebra markings
- access_aisle:markings=ladder:skewed - Skewed ladder markings
- access_aisle:markings=* - Any other applicable value
- surface=* - Access aisle surface material
- lit=* - Lighting presence
- width=* - Access aisle width
- incline=* - Incline along way (for hilly areas)
- incline:across=* - Incline across way
- tactile_paving=* - Specify tactile paving presence along way
- tactile_paving=yes - Tactile paving is present
- tactile_paving=no - Tactile paving is not present
- tactile_paving:colour=* - Specify color of tactile paving
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
- maxspeed=* - Highway speed limit