Key:traffic_sign
 traffic_sign
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| Description |
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Traffic signs give instructions or provide information to road users. 
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| Group: highways |
| Used on these elements |
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| Documented values: 48 |
| Useful combination |
Status: de facto
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| Tools for this tag |
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The traffic_sign=* tag is used to map traffic signs such as city-limit signs or any other traffic signs.
Description
Traffic signs give instructions or provide information to road users. Some signs are only relevant at the place where they're mounted (like e.g. a stop sign - called point-related signs from now on), while others affect a section of the road (like e.g. a "no overtaking" sign - called section-related signs).
How to map
Traffic signs can be mapped by adding the traffic_sign=* tag to either a single node or a way (or, if applicable, also an area).
Point-related signs can be mapped by tagging a node, while section-related signs can be mapped by tagging a way (or area). You may also map a section-related sign by tagging it as a node if you only know where the section begins or if you just want to explicitly specify its physical location. Keep in mind that additional tagging is necessary to indicate the end of the section in this case.
The implications of a traffic sign should always be tagged on the concerned section of the road itself as well. When mapping a speed limit sign for example: always add a maxspeed=* and a source:maxspeed=sign tag to the road itself.
On nodes
It is possible to use a node which is part of a way, or to create a separate node beside the road. While both methods are used in practice, if you put the node aside the way the direction of the sign usually becomes clear and the position typically is more accurate. If you put it on the highway, information about these properties is lost in both cases[1], but the way it belongs to is explicitly given.
As part of a way
Create a new node within the relevant way next to the sign. This method allows software algorithms which operate on ways (like e.g. routing algorithms) to consider the sign, but makes it impossible to know the exact position of the sign. A renderer can at best assume that the sign is located somewhere next to the road.
To indicate the direction affected by a traffic sign relative to the highway=* way, three different tags are in use. forward means the same direction as the highway=* way and backward the opposite direction.
- direction=forward/backward
- The oldest of the three tags.
- traffic_sign:forward=*/traffic_sign:backward=*
- Different from the other two tags, this pair of tags isn't used in addition to
traffic_sign=*but in place of it. Thus, a post with different traffic signs for each direction can be mapped on a single node. - traffic_sign:direction=forward/backward
- The newest of the three tags, introduced by the iD editor in September 2018 because the editor couldn't handle traffic_sign:forward=*/traffic_sign:backward=*. This tag is equivalent to
direction=*. (It is unknown why the keydirection=*, which was also already in use, wasn't used instead.)
The affected direction can only be specified by using nodes which are part of exactly one way 
. Avoid junction nodes and nodes between two ways as well (where they have been split, but are connected by a node). If in doubt, better simply insert a new node into the way instead of using an existing one.
As a separate node
Create a separate node beside the road at the position of the actual sign. This allows to map the exact physical position of the sign, but it is impossible to reliably deduce the affected road or travel direction in this case. Software algorithms which operate on ways will thus generally not be able to consider the traffic sign, but only the tags of the way instead.
You can use the direction=* tag to describe the facing orientation of the sign by using an angle or cardinal direction.
Note that the sign is facing against the direction of travel. So if you encounter a traffic sign when traveling north, then the sign is facing south. So you can add direction=180 or direction=S. Likewise, when traveling west, signs are facing east, so you tag them with direction=90 or direction=E.
On a way or area
When tagged on a way or an area, the traffic_sign=* tag describes the traffic sign(s) that apply to that way or area. The tag is not meant to mark the actual position of the sign in this case, but the affected way or area instead. It should however be assumed that the physical location of the sign is at the beginning and / or the end of the affected section (but note that the affected section may be comprised of multiple ways within OSM).
You may use traffic_sign:forward=* to specify that this particular sign affects vehicles moving in the same direction as the way, or traffic_sign:backward=* to specify that the opposite direction is affected.
Tagging
It is common to use both human-readable values (like city_limit) as well as national traffic sign IDs (like DE:310) where they exist.
Multiple signs can be tagged by using different separators. Traffic signs which are unrelated to each other (like e.g. speed limit and no parking) are separated by semicolon ;. Related signs (like e.g. no entry plus except buses) are separated by comma ,.
Human-readable values
| Tags | Element | Sign | Comment | Tags for affected highways | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| traffic_sign=city_limit +
name=* (name of city/village) |
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City/village sign. By default it is assumed there is an end of city/village sign on the back for drivers in the opposite direction; add city_limit=begin if this is not the case. | source:maxspeed=DE:urban if not overridden by other speed limit source (or with other appropriate country code)
zone:traffic=DE:urban |
| traffic_sign=city_limit +
name=* (name of city/village) |
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End of city/village sign. | source:maxspeed=DE:rural if not overridden by other speed limit source (or with other appropriate country code) |
| traffic_sign=maxspeed +
maxspeed=* (the speed limit) |
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|
.svg)
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Maximum speed sign. Like all traffic signs these should be tagged as a node. Usually not part of the highway, so the direction can be inferred. | maxspeed=* + source:maxspeed=sign |
| traffic_sign=maxspeed + |
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End of maximum speed sign. | |
| traffic_sign=stop |
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Stop sign. Usually tagged implicitly on a node of the highway with highway=stop instead. | highway=stop (on a node) | |
| traffic_sign=give_way |
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Give way sign. Equivalent to the United States yield sign. Usually just highway=give_way is tagged instead. | highway=give_way (on a node) | |
| traffic_sign=variable_message |
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Electronic Variable Message Sign, also known as Dynamic Message Signs. Remotely programmed to give traffic information such as expected travel times to destinations, temporary speed limits, incident warnings etc. Usually combined with man_made=gantry. (Example photo) | ||
| traffic_sign=overtaking + |
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No overtaking sign. | overtaking=no |
| traffic_sign=overtaking + |
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End of no overtaking sign. | |
| traffic_sign=maxwidth |
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Maximum width sign. | maxwidth=* | |
| traffic_sign=maxheight |
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Maximum height sign. | maxheight=* | |
| traffic_sign=maxweight |
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Maximum weight sign. | maxweight=* | |
| traffic_sign=stop_ahead |
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Stop ahead sign. Can be a standard yield sign plus additional plate containing STOP and distance (as in most of Europe) or a red triangle or yellow diamond with an image of a stop sign elsewhere. | |
| traffic_sign=yield_ahead |
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Yield/give way ahead sign. Can be a standard yield sign plus additional plate with distance (as in most of Europe) or a red triangle or yellow diamond with an image of a yield/give way sign elsewhere. | |
| traffic_sign=signal_ahead |
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Signal ahead sign. | |
| traffic_sign=hazard |
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A hazard to motorists. | Combined with hazard=* to indicate the type of hazard. |
Traffic sign IDs
Signs specific to a particular country should be mapped by the country/region prefix followed by a colon and then the traffic sign.
- The country/region prefix should be the
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code or ISO 3166-2 country subdivision code (always uppercase). This prefix is separated by a colon :from the sign. Additional colons can be included within the prefix to create a hierarchy of further custom subdivisions. Prefer the relevant national sign code over the code given in the text of the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. - Traffic signs should be represented by their official ID (if such IDs are assigned).
- Multiple unrelated signs should be separated with a semicolon
;. If traffic signs are related, the additional sign IDs should be separated from the main sign by comma,. - Where the traffic sign requires a numeric or textual value, you can supply it after the ID using brackets
[value]. This can be repeated for signs that require multiple parameters. For numeric parameters, use a dot.as decimal separator and a minus-for negative values (if needed). - In case of multiple signs separated by commas or semicolons, the prefix must appear at the beginning of the value, and may or may not appear again before each sign code (this tends to vary by country). If multiple prefixes are used, each prefix must be present before the first sign code of a differing prefix, to avoid ambiguity.
Examples
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traffic_sign=GB:956 | ||
 
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traffic_sign=GB:616,954 | ||
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traffic_sign=GB:523.1[-10] | ||
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traffic_sign=BE:F4a | ||
 ,_StVO_1992.svg){kind=small} ;_StVO_1992.svg)
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traffic_sign=DE:260,1020-30;265[3.8] | ||
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traffic_sign=US:CA:SW-59 | ||
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traffic_sign=US:R1-1;US:R1-3P | ||
_tweetalig_plaatsnaambord_cropped.JPG) 
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traffic_sign=NL:H01d[Merum][Maerem][Roermond];A0150 |
Lists of IDs by country
The following table links to resources for looking up sign IDs specific to each country or country subdivision (in some cases where country subdivisions have their own sign standards).
| Prefix | Country or region | OSM Wiki | Wikipedia | Wikipedia en | Wiki Commons | External source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT | Austria | — | available (de)
|
available
|
available | — |
| AL | Albania | — | available (it)
|
— | — | www.dpshtrr.gov.al (sq) |
| AD | Andorra | — | available (it)
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— | available | Reglament dels tipus i significat dels senyals verticals de circulació pdf (ca) |
| AR | Argentina | available (es) | — | available
|
— | www.bmargentina.com pdf (es) www.agvp.gov.ar pdf (es) |
| AM | Armenia | — | available (it)
|
— | — | www.arlis.am (ar) |
| AU | Australia | available (en) | — | available
|
available | transport.nsw.gov.au |
| AU:QLD | Australia: Queensland | www.qld.gov.au | ||||
| AW | Aruba (Kingdom of the Netherlands)[2] | — | — | — | — | Bijlage III van de Regeling verkeersaanwijzingen en -borden 2000 (nl) |
| AZ | Azerbaijan | — | available (it)
|
— | — | www.gov.az (az) |
| BY | Belarus | — | available (be-tarask)
|
— | available | adrive.by pdf (ru) |
| BE | Belgium | available | available (de)
|
— | — | Verkeersreglement (nl) / Code de la Route (fr) Een overzicht van de bordcodes pdf (nl) |
| BO | Bolivia | — | — | — | — | www.abc.gob.bo pdf (es) |
| BA | Bosnia and Herzegovina | — | — | available
|
— | www.automotivecenter.ba pdf (bs) |
| BW | Botswana | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| BR | Brazil | available (pt) | available (pt)
|
available
|
— | www.pmf.sc.gov.br pdf (pt) |
| BN | Brunei | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| BG | Bulgaria | — | available (bg)
|
— | — | www.mvr.bg pdf (bg) |
| BQ-BO | Bonaire (Netherlands)[2] | — | — | — | — | Bijlage 1 van de Wegenverkeersverordening Bonaire 2019 (nl) |
| BQ-SA | Saba (Netherlands)[2] | — | — | — | — | Bijlage van de Wegenverkeersverordening de Bovenwindse Eilanden (Sabaanse editie) (nl) |
| BQ-SE | Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)[2] | — | — | — | — | Bijlage 1 van de Wegenverkeersverordening Sint Eustatius 2022 (nl) |
| CA | Canada | Available (en) FR:Canada/Signalisation routière (fr) | — | available
|
— | — |
| CA:AB | Canada:Alberta | — | — | alberta.ca | ||
| CA:BC | Canada:British Columbia | — | available | www2.gov.bc.ca | ||
| CA:QC | Canada:Quebec | — | available | www.rsr.transports.gouv.qc.ca(fr) | ||
| CA:ON | Canada:Ontario | — | available | ontario.ca | ||
| CL | Chile | — | available (es)
|
available
|
available | www.conaset.cl pdf (es) |
| CN | China | — | — | available
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available | http://c.gb688.cn/bzgk/gb/showGb?type=online&hcno=15B1FC09EE1AE92F1A9EC97BA3C9E451 .pdf(zn-ch) |
| CO | Colombia | available (es) | — | available
|
available | www.mintransporte.gov.co pdf (es) |
| HR | Croatia | — | available (hr)
|
— | — | www.mppi.hr pdf (hr) |
| CW | Curacao (Kingdom of the Netherlands)[2] | — | — | — | — | Bijlage I van de Wegenverkeersverordening Curaçao 2000 pdf (nl) |
| CY | Cyprus | — | available (it)
|
— | — | www.mcw.gov.cy (el) |
| CZ | Czechia | available (cs) | available (cs)
|
available
|
available |
www.zakonyprolidi.cz pdf (cs) |
| DK | Denmark | — | available (de)
|
available
|
— | ipapercms.dk (da) |
| EC | Ecuador | — | — | — | — | www.normalizacion.gob.ec pdf (es) |
| EE | Estonia | — | — | available
|
— | www.riigiteataja.ee (ee) |
| FI | Finland | — | available (fi)
|
available
|
available | www.finlex.fi (fi) |
| FR | France, Monaco | available (fr) | available (fr)
|
— | available | www.gouv.fr pdf (fr) |
| GE | Georgia | — | available (it)
|
— | — | mes.gov.ge pdf (ka) |
| DE | Germany | available (de) | available (de)
|
available
|
available | www.bast.de (de) |
| GR | Greece | available (el) | available (el)
|
available
|
available | www.yme.gr (el) |
| HK | Hong Kong | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| HU | Hungary | — | available (it)
|
— | — | — |
| IS | Iceland | — | — | available
|
— | www.reglugerd.is (is) |
| ID | Indonesia | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| IR | Iran | — | available (fa)
|
available
|
— | — |
| IE | Ireland | — | — | available
|
available | www.dttas.ie |
| IL | Israel | — | available (he)
|
available
|
— | media.mot.gov.il pdf (he) |
| IT | Italy, San Marino, Vatican City | available (it) | available (it)
|
available
|
available | — |
| available (fr)
| ||||||
| JP | Japan | — | available (ja)
|
available
|
available | www.mlit.go.jp (ja) elaws.e-gov.go.jp (ja) |
| KZ | Kazakhstan | — | available (it)
|
— | — | zarul.kz (ru) |
| LT | Lithuania | — | available (it)
|
— | — | www.regitra.lt pdf |
| LU | Luxembourg | — | available (it)
|
— | — | www.public.lu (fr) |
| LV | Latvia | — | — | — | — | likumi.lv (lv) |
| MK | North Macedonia | — | available
|
— | — | — |
| MY | Malaysia | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| MT | Malta | — | available (it)
|
— | — | www.justiceservices.gov.mt |
| MU | Mauritius | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| MX | Mexico | — | available (es)
|
available
|
— | www.sct.gob.mx (es) (pdf) |
| MD | Moldova | available | http://lex.justice.md/md/331491/ | |||
| ME | Montenegro | — | — | — | — | www.gov.me |
| NP | Nepal | — | — | available
|
available | — |
| NL | European Netherlands[2] | available (nl) | available (nl)
|
available
|
available | Bijlage 1 van het Reglement verkeersregels en verkeerstekens 1990 (nl) VNVF Bordenboek 2017 / VNVF Bordenwijzer 2017 (nl) (€) NVV/NFW Bordenboek 1997 (nl)[3] CROW Nieuwe nummering tijdelijke verkeersborden (nl) |
| NZ | New Zealand | — | — | available
|
available | — |
| NO | Norway | — | — | available
|
available | Norway (no) |
| PK | Pakistan | — | available (sd)
|
available
|
available | Pakistan Highway Code Book archive on GitHub |
| PE | Peru | available (es) | — | — | — | www.gob.pe pdf (es) |
| PH | Philippines | available (en) | — | available
|
— | www.dpwh.gov.ph (en) |
| PL | Poland | available (pl) | available (pl)
|
available
|
available | sejm.gov.pl pdf (pl) |
| PT | Portugal | available (pt) | — | — | — | www.ansr.pt pdf (pt) |
| RO | Romania | — | available (it)
|
— | — | lege5.ro (ro) |
| RU | Russia | available (ru) | available (ru)
|
— | available | www.avtobeginner.ru (ru) |
| RS | Serbia | — | available (en) available (it)
|
— | — |
www.paragraf.rs pdf (sr) josm_preset_traffic_signs |
| SG | Singapore | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| SK | Slovakia | available (sk) | available (sk)
|
— | available | justice.gov.sk pdf (sk) |
| SI | Slovenia | available (si) | available (de)
|
— | — | www.pisrs.si (10-2019) pdf (sl) |
| ZA | South Africa | — | available (af)
|
available
|
— | — |
| KR | South Korea | available (ko) | available (ko)
|
available
|
available | — |
| ES | Spain | — | available (es)
|
available
|
available | Reglamento General de Circulación (es) |
| LK | Sri Lanka | — | — | available
|
— | — |
| SE | Sweden | — | available (sv)
|
available
|
available | www.transportstyrelsen.se (sv) |
| SX | Sint Maarten (Kingdom of the Netherlands)[2] | — | — | — | — | Bijlage van de Wegenverkeersverordening (nl) |
| CH | Switzerland, Liechtenstein | — | available (de)
|
available
|
available | www.gesetze.li pdf (de) |
| available (fr)
|
— | |||||
| available (it)
|
www.admin.ch pdf (it) | |||||
| TH | Thailand | — | — | available
|
— | information.in.th |
| TR | Turkey | available (tr) | available (it)
|
— | — | www.kgm.gov.tr pdf (tr) |
| UG | Uganda | available | — | — | — | www.works.go.ug pdf |
| UA | Ukraine | available (uk) | available (uk)
|
available
|
— | zakon.rada.gov.ua (uk), vodiy.ua (uk) |
| GB | United Kingdom | available | — | available
|
available | www.gov.uk pdf www.legislation.gov.uk |
| US | United States | Intro, Chart | — | available
|
available | 2002 chart 2004 standard 2012 supplement 2014 Revision 2 Chart |
| US:AK | United States: Alaska | Indices Drawings | ||||
| US:AZ | United States: Arizona | azdot.gov | ||||
| US:CA | United States: California | dot.ca.gov | ||||
| US:CO | United States: Colorado | codot.gov | ||||
| US:CT | United States: Connecticut | portal.ct.gov | ||||
| US:DC | United States: District of Columbia | [1] | ||||
| US:DE | United States: Delaware | deldot.gov | ||||
| US:ID | United States: Idaho | apps.itd.idaho.gov | ||||
| US:IL | United States: Illinois | idot.illinois.gov | ||||
| US:IN | United States: Indiana | in.gov | ||||
| US:KY | United States: Kentucky | transportation.ky.gov | ||||
| US:MI | United States: Michigan | mdotjboss.state.mi.us | ||||
| US:MD | United States: Maryland | apps.roads.maryland.gov | ||||
| US:MA | United States: Massachusetts | mass.gov | ||||
| US:MN | United States: Minnesota | dot.state.mn.us | ||||
| US:MO | United States: Missouri | epg.modot.org | ||||
| US:MT | United States: Montana | mdt.mt.gov | ||||
| US:NE | United States: Nebraska | dot.nebraska.gov | ||||
| US:NM | United States: New Mexico | nmshtd.state.nm.us (Wayback Machine) | ||||
| US:NY | United States: New York | dot.ny.gov | ||||
| US:NV | United States: Nevada | dot.nv.gov | ||||
| US:TX | United States: Texas | ftp.dot.state.tx.us | ||||
| US:OH | United States: Ohio | transportation.ohio.gov | ||||
| US:OK | United States: Oklahoma | oklahoma.gov | ||||
| US:OR | United States: Oregon | oregon.gov | ||||
| US:PA | United States: Pennsylvania | dot.state.pa.us | ||||
| PR | United States: Puerto Rico | act.dtop.pr.gov | ||||
| US:SC | United States: South Carolina | scdot.org | ||||
| US:TN | United States: Tennessee | tn.gov | ||||
| US:UT | United States: Utah | drive.google.com | ||||
| US:VA | United States: Virginia | vdot.virginia.gov | ||||
| US:VT | United States: Vermont | maps.vtrans.vermont.gov | ||||
| US:WA | United States: Washington | wsdot.wa.gov | ||||
| US:WI | United States: Wisconsin | wisconsindot.gov | ||||
| US:WV | United States: West Virginia | transportation.wv.gov | ||||
| US:DOD | United States Department of Defense | Pamphlet Standard | ||||
| US:NPS | United States: National Park Service | Catalog | ||||
| VN | Vietnam | — | — | available
|
available | cucqlxd.gov.vn (vi) |
| ZW | Zimbabwe | — | — | available
|
— | — |
Editor support
JOSM has an icon for the value city_limit and also renders icons for the keys maxspeed=*, maxweight=*, maxheight=* and some more if tagged together with traffic_sign=*. While for maxspeed the actual value is shown, the other keys use a generic icon, which always shows the same value independent from the actual value specified in the respective tag.
The style Lane and Road Attributes currently renders traffic signs for maxspeed and overtaking. For maxspeed the icon shows the actual value specified in the tag.
The following table list some examples together with the actual rendering result in JOSM.
| Tags | Description | Rendering result in JOSM |
|---|---|---|
| traffic_sign=maxspeed maxspeed=50 |
Speed limit of 50 km/h | 
|
| traffic_sign=maxspeed maxspeed=implicit |
End of speed limit | 
|
| traffic_sign=maxspeed maxspeed=30 mph source:maxspeed=zone |
Speed zone with 30 mph |
|
| traffic_sign=overtaking overtaking=no |
Overtaking forbidden | 
|
| traffic_sign=overtaking overtaking=yes |
Overtaking allowed | 
|
| traffic_sign=maxspeed;overtaking maxspeed=70 overtaking=no |
Overtaking forbidden and a speed limit of 70 km/h | 
|
| traffic_sign=maxspeed;overtaking maxspeed=implicit overtaking=yes |
End of speed limit and overtaking is allowed. | 
|
Presets, styles, libraries, statistics and maps with traffic signs with IDs per country
The following table links to the presets and styles for JOSM that recognises these signs with IDs specific to each country or country subdivision (in some cases where country subdivisions have their own sign standards). Also you can find maps, statistics at taginfo and renders 3D in Kendzi 3D's JOSM plug-in.
See also
- RoadSigns plugin for the JOSM editor
- destination=* and Relation:destination_sign - destination signs for vehicles
- information=guidepost - destination signs for hiking/cycling/skiing routes
- highway=speed_display - dynamically changing electronic sign that displays the speed of passing vehicles
- Sophox query for U.S. traffic signs by series and color based on this key and cross-referencing Wikidata
- proposed type=node relation can be used to map things attached to a pole
Possible tagging mistakes
Footnotes
- ↑ If the road is oneway=yes, information on sign direction is still clear, but position is not accurate
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Codes with
ǸL:prefix may also be used in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands if a traffic sign is used for which no island-specific code exists in local legislation. - ↑ Freely available precursor to the current VNVF Bordenboek. Note: some non-RVV traffic signs have been renumbered into new categories since this publication.