Philippines/Mapping conventions/Roads/Classification
Background
In OSM, roads are classified using the highway=* tag which generally indicates a roadway's importance in the road network. As OSM is a global map, it is important to provide consistency in classifying roads locally, regionally and locally under the 7 highway=* tags in the general road network:
- highway=motorway
- highway=trunk
- highway=primary
- highway=secondary
- highway=tertiary
- highway=unclassified
- highway=residential
The values for highway=* are based on UK's road network, but globally, is used in a hierarchy of descending importance, the exception being for highway=motorway which indicates construction standards and access restrictions. All other classes indicate importance.
In the Philippines, roads are officially classified into: [1],
- Expressways - Limited-access highways as defined in the Limited Access Highway Act (Republic Act No. 2000), often with tolls. Under the High Standard Highway masterplan developed in cooperation with the Japanese government, these are further subcategorized into two categories:
- High-standard highways (HSH-1) - Full controlled-access highways, composing the mainline expressway network. These are tolled.
- Regional high-standard highways (HSH-2) - Partially controlled-access highways that feed into the main expressways. These are multilane arterial roads with bypasses, grade separation and frontage roads. As of 2021, no roads have been designated as such.
- National roads
- National primary roads - Roads that connect two or more major cities (with populations 100,000+) without breaks or forks. Assigned 1 to 2-digit route numbers. Until 2014, the classification was further subdivided into:
- North-South Backbone - The main route connecting the Philippines' major cities from north to south.
- East-West Laterals - Other main route that cross the N-S Backbone to link other major cities from east to west.
- Other Roads of Strategic Importance (ORSI) - All other high-traffic routes not falling under the former two categories. These links other regional centers, major cities and certain provincial capitals.
- National secondary roads - Roads that complement the primary national roads. These are assigned 3-digit numbers and perform these functions:
- Connect cities directly to the primary network (except in metropolitan areas)
- Connect provincial capitals within the same region
- Connect major seaports, ferry terminals, and major airports to primary roads.
- Connect all other cities not considered major cities.
- Connect major national infrastructure to the primary network or the rest of secondary network
- National tertiary roads - Road maintained by the DPWH which are local in importance. No route numbers. The classification is introduced in 2014 after an abandoned plan to relinquish maintenance and funding of national secondary roads of local importance to local governments.
- National primary roads - Roads that connect two or more major cities (with populations 100,000+) without breaks or forks. Assigned 1 to 2-digit route numbers. Until 2014, the classification was further subdivided into:
- Provincial roads - Roads that connect cities and municipalities without using national roads, and roads connecting major provincial infrastructure.
- City/municipal Roads - Roads maintained by city or municipal governments. They can be either:
- Local streets at the poblacion (city or town center, downtown area, or central business district)
- Other roads linking the poblacion with provincial or national roads
- Roads serving major city or municipal infrastructure without using provincial roads
- Barangay roads - All other local roads within a barangay.
- Unclassified roads - Roads not yet assigned any official classification.
- Private road - Roads maintained by private entities (usually real estate developers). Access may be restricted.
Since there are various definitions of each classification, there is no good one-to-one correspondence between each official classification and OSM's classifications. Another issue with the classifications is they most often relate to the authority behind maintenance, that even otherwise minor roads can be classified national roads because maintenance goes into the national government. Thus, we defer to the use of importance levels to determine classifications (see Highways and Highway Tag Africa), but we can still factor in the official designation, especially in borderline cases. Official classification can be tagged using designation=*:
designation=expresswaydesignation=national_primary_roaddesignation=national_secondary_roaddesignation=national_tertiary_roaddesignation=provincial_roaddesignation=city_roaddesignation=municipal_roaddesignation=barangay_road
One major reason for the proposed change is to create a road classification scheme that fits all parts of the country. The original schemes, from 2007 and 2015 respectively, is based on the situation in Metro Manila, and does not go well in other parts of the country. The issue with the scheme is particularly obvious with the definition of primary roads; it is practical to use primary for major road links between Metro Manila's cities (as well as nearby areas), but not in the most of the country. In short, a scheme that goes well in Manila's urban sprawl will not work in most of the countryside.
Classifications
Road classifications differ widely by country. Philippine practice follows global practice, marking roads by their overall nature.
Philippine road classification follows a hierarchy of decreasing importance, with expressway and trunk roads being the topmost level. In this context, "importance" means the usefulness of a route in carrying traffic between population centers. Roads between large cities or urban areas over large distances are generally most important than roads to smaller cities, towns, city districts, barangays or other particular points of interest.
In some places, there may be more than one route serving particular population centers. In this case, the "best" route should be assigned the highest classification, with other routes classified lower. "Best" in this context means the "fastest or most convenient route". This also serves as a justification to move trunk or primary classifications to a bypass route where they are present, taking in account bypasses are built to divert through traffic away from a congested area where there is traffic congestion, high pedestrian traffic or physical constraints to further highway development.
In general, a stretch of road with a certain classification should end at a junction with a road of the same or higher classification, and should not change classification due to change in physical characteristics. An exception is for highway=motorway, a physical classification, and of major roads ending at a location with no other major roads of the same or higher class due to geography, like with Route 1/Asian Highway 26 in Zamboanga City, Jose Abad Santos Avenue in Olongapo, the Roman Superhighway in Mariveles, and Route 119 in Santa Ana, Cagayan.
With the Philippines being an island nation, with various interconnected road networks in the islands connected by roll-on, roll-off (RORO) ferries, in order to provide complete connectivity between networks across islands, classifications should also extend to roads inside ferry terminals and not end outside the port gates.
As discussed above, official classification or route numbers do not correlate well with OSM road classifications in the Philippines. Therefore, roads should be tagged by their overall nature, not solely by their official classification or route number.
Motorway
The highest classification, highway=motorway should only be used in roads with full control of access, as defined under the Limited Access Highway Act (Republic Act No. 2000). This is used with most of the mainline expressway network, composed of High Standard Highway Class 1 (HSH-1) roads with full control of access and are largely toll roads. Characteristics are:
- Grade separation (no at-grade intersections or traffic lights, but termini or ramps may have traffic control devices, and there can be accesses for road construction and maintenance vehicles)
- Limited access through entrance and exit ramps
- Road design standards supporting higher speeds over long distances
- Traffic restrictions (no bicycles, pedestrians, tricycles, non-motorized vehicles. Motorcycles with engine displacement below 400 cc are normally prohibited, except in Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway, where motorbikes with minimum 125 cc displacement are allowed)
These routes should generally be divided, with at least two lanes per direction, but they do not need to, as long they meet the access control, grade separation and highway design standard requirements. As of 2021, all expressways mapped are completely divided.
Where to apply?
All the tolled expressways, both existing and under construction, are tagged as highway=motorway. Tag with toll=yes as appropriate (useful for navigation apps with "Avoid toll roads" options), though there are some sections of expressway that are toll-free such as the partially opened sections of the Central Luzon Link Expressway.
Trunk
As the topmost non-motorway designation, trunk should be applied to:
- In areas of low population density, major routes between large population centers, such as cities with populations of 100,000 and above (see list below), metropolitan areas or urban agglomerations
- In areas of high population density, (e.g. Metro Manila), the main through route[s] across the area
- Regional expressways with some of the characteristics for highway=motorway and is a class 2 High Standard Highway (HSH-2).
In some places, two large cities, especially where designated as regional centers, may be served by multiple routes with similar travel times. In general, trunk routings should:
- represent the best route between the cities when all possible factors are considered
- minimize change in route numbers, use of off-route “shortcuts”, and jogs in alignment.
- favor routes with the best connectivity to the rest of the road network
- favor bypasses or diversion roads to divert traffic around congested areas or sections.
In between and around major population centers, it may be appropriate to tag additional trunk routes outside of the guidelines to highlight other major high-quality long-haul traffic routes or to differentiate it from other major roads of equal importance in the area.
Trunk routes are allowed to be assigned on routes paralleling an expressway; this guideline is created to provide toll-free alternate routes of equal importance in the same corridor, as expressways are generally toll roads and some people choose to avoid using them for various reasons.
Most of the proposed trunk network will be following much of the existing roads tagged as such and most of the trunk network will correspond to the designated national primary network by DPWH, but will add some national secondary roads and some unnumbered national roads to fill the gaps such as the Calapan-Iloilo City corridor, where the trunk routing follows the main routing of the Western Nautical Highway between those cities.
Major population centers
These are the major population centers in the Philippines that are used for determining trunk routes. In dense urban areas, population centers are selected more carefully. Population centers listed may include more than one city. For convenience, cities in the table below are grouped under the three island groups, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Most of the cities or metropolitan areas in this list usually have a population of over 100,000, but this may not be a good indicator of importance in the network. The presence of an airport or seaport with regular passenger service can be considered a better indicator.
| Luzon | Visayas | Mindanao |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Trunk routings
- National primaries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 62 (Quirino, Diego Cera, Aguinaldo Highway), 65 (Dasma-Biñan), 68, 69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81
- National secondaries: 110, 419 (Aguinaldo Highway between Bacoor and Dasma), 452 (Calapan-Bongabon), 454 (Bongabon-Dangay), 502 (Caticlan-Nabas), 503 (Nabas-Ibajay), 684 (Ormoc-Palompon), 712, 810, 820, 830, 902, 943
- Others: Unnumbered roads connecting to the ferry terminals where they connect to ferry=trunk routes.
Routes in densely populated areas
Trunk routings has been determined for the major densely populated areas of the Philippines, namely Metro Manila, suburban Cavite, and Metro Cebu.
For Metro Manila, the trunk routes are EDSA, MacArthur Highway, and Route 1 south of Alabang, plus the roads that fill the gap which are Roxas Boulevard between EDSA and NAIA Road (Route 61), a short segment of NAIA Road (Route 194), Quirino and Diego Cera avenues (Route 62), and Alabang-Zapote Road (Route 411). Route 120 (the remainder of Roxas Boulevard, Bonifacio Drive, Del Pan Bridge, Road 10, C-4) is also marked as trunk as a western bypass of Manila proper and an alternate route to EDSA.
In suburban Cavite, Aguinaldo Highway between Bacoor and Dasmariñas (Routes 62 and 419) and Governor's Drive (Routes 65 and 651) east of Dasma all the way to Biñan is set as the trunk route in the region. This routing roughly parallels the partially opened CALAX (which it is being built to decongest these roads), and serves the area's largest cities.
In Metro Cebu, the main trunk route would be Route 8 and Route 840 (whole route, where it bypasses Route 8 through Talisay, Cebu City, Mandaue and Consolacion).
Primary
Primary is generally applied to roads connecting other major population centers such as smaller cities and large municipalities (with populations of 100,000 an above). Most national secondary roads (with 3-digit route numbers, except those leading to airports or other points of interest) and identified high-importance national tertiary roads can be classified as primary. In addition, these should generally be used in lower-importance alternate routes of trunk routes between major population centers. In urban areas, these should be generally used on main thoroughfares, which are usually also national roads and are of a reasonable density (i.e. usually spaced far apart).
Primary should also be assigned to roads leading to all other provincial capitals that are neither cities nor large municipalities; this is done to highlight critical roads links to less populous provinces.
Primary routings should generally prefer routings avoiding congested areas or narrow roads; they need not to serve directly the downtown/poblacion or CBD and best routed on a bypass or larger parallel roads.
In densely populated areas
Roads tagged as primary in the densely populated regions of Metro Manila, suburban Cavite and Metro Cebu are determined carefully. Such areas, especially Manila, need special attention so to avoid overclassification.
In Metro Manila, most other major roads in the region that are less important for through traffic fall under primary. Prominent examples are much of the major arterial roads within the area bound by EDSA, Roxas Boulevard, Road 10 and C-4, and most avenues and boulevards. These are generally numbered and have four or more lanes, both divided and undivided.
In Cavite, all other major through routes are tagged primary. This include all other numbered routes, plus Daang Hari and Molino-Paliparan Road. The future East-West Road will be tagged primary; parts of the highway are already open.
In Metro Cebu, all the major roads in the Cebu City-Mandaue-Mactan area other than Route 840 are primary roads.
Secondary
This generally applies to roads connecting to medium-size municipalities with populations of 10,000 to 99,999 in rural areas, and minor arterials in urban areas. In most cases, these generally includes most national tertiary roads, provincial roads, and major city/municipal roads. These may or may not be marked.
Tertiary
This fourth level of non-motorway roads should be applied to roads connecting to small municipalities (with populations below 10,000) and most barangays in rural areas, and collector roads (usually within the same barangay or district) in urban areas. Examples are the majority of roads between barangays, and the largest roads of large gated communities with multiple entry/exit points like Ayala Alabang, Dasmariñas Village or BF Homes, or local streets with significant amounts of through traffic in central business districts or huge gated industrial parks with multiple entrances. If a tertiary route is physically larger or carries more traffic than other tertiaries, or serves three or more barangays or districts with minimal alignment jogs, a tertiary can be promoted to a secondary, taking most factors in account, most importantly, connectivity.
Unclassified
The least important roads in the network, which are not residential. Examples are most other rural roads and roads to a barangay with no other links to other barangays or a remote sitio or purok, commercial streets, and local streets in an industrial park. These are mostly unmarked.
Residential
The least important roads in the network, with the primary purpose of serving homes. In most of the Philippines, many major roads are lined with houses, but this does not mean they should be tagged highway=residential. Instead, highway=residential is used on roads primarily used to access homes (e.g. roads inside residential areas).
Summary table
| Classification | In sparsely populated areas | In densely populated areas | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motorway | Expressways | (2019-01-12).jpg)
| |
| Trunk | Major intercity and interregional roads that are not controlled-access (including those paralleling expressways). Usually the majority of 1- to 2-digit highways. | Continuation of trunk road inside urban area, usually the main through route for long-haul travel through the area. Usually a 1- to 2-digit highway. | 
|
| Primary | Roads between small cities, large towns and provincial capitals that are neither cities nor large towns. Usually a 3-digit highway. | Large major urban arterials. Usually a 3-digit route or a bypassed segment of a 1-/2-digit highway. | (2018-07-30).jpg) 
|
| Secondary | Roads between most other towns. Usually unnumbered national roads and provincial roads | Other arterial roads. | 
|
| Tertiary | Most roads connecting barangays | Collector roads | 
|
| Unclassified | All other minor roads | Industrial, commercial or mixed-use streets that do not fit any of the classifications above | |
| Residential | Residential streets | 
| |
| Service | Driveways, parking lot access roads, drive-throughs, cemetery roads, alleys, emergency median openings on expressways | ||
| Track | Farm tracks, forestry roads, and most unpaved minor roads that do not link to any permanent settlement | ||
| Pedestrian | Pedestrian streets or squares (e.g. Plaza Miranda) | ||
Exceptions
There are plenty of exceptions to the guidelines listed above, mostly done for various reasons. This list is incomplete as of 2022.
By province and by region:
Cagayan
- Routes 101, 102 and 119 will be kept as primary to distinguish it from the unnumbered national roads and provincial roads in the area.
Aurora
- Route 112 Baler-Casiguran will remain at primary, to highlight its role as a critical link between the more remote parts of the province, as well as connecting with Route 108 to Cagayan Valley. Its continuation northeast of Casiguran, a provincial road leading to Dilasag and Dinapigue, would remain as secondary.
Nueva Ecija
- Route 114, which connects to Dingalan in Aurora, will remain as a primary despite being a dead end route as of 2021, to distinguish it from the provincial roads feeding to it. The route will connect to the Aurora-Quezon Province missing link, which is under construction as of 2021.
Pampanga
- The roads connecting Candaba with other municipalities in Pampanga as well as Bulacan will all remain as secondary. All the national roads connecting to the municipality can be classified primary, but this would come out as an overclassification in an area where most roads are tagged tertiary and lower.
Cavite
- Daang Hari will remain primary as the main artery connecting Muntinlupa with Bacoor and Imus. The road remains officially unclassified, though, but is presumably under the maintenance of the DPWH, with most improvements to it being undertaken by the agency.
Batangas
- Trunk classification for Route 4 ends at the Balagtas Rotonda, to Route 434 (Diversion Road).
- Routes 438 and 439, both connecting Batangas City (a large city) to Lobo (a small town), are marked primary to distinguish it from local roads marked secondary. Same also goes to the national roads to Lian and Calatagan.
Rizal
- The main national roads connecting San Mateo and Montalban (both large municipalities), as well Marikina and Quezon City are tagged primary. Primary classification ends at Montalban poblacion without extending further as an example of a classification exception due to terminal geography.
Quezon Province
- Route 601 to Infanta will remain as primary, despite being a dead end route and connecting with a small town. The classification also accounts for the construction of the missing link to Aurora, which will connect with Route 114 (see above).
- Tayabas-Calumpang Road will be kept as secondary, despite being part of the main route to Sariaya and onward onto the Maharlika Highway to Manila (as of 2021). The future opening of the Eco-Tourism Road extension (which will be a primary, having a higher classification and of better construction, and will divert most traffic between Tayabas and Maharlika Highway) is also a factor.
- All the national secondary roads in the Bondoc Peninsula (except Route 610 south of Mulanay and Route 612 south of Abuyon Junction) should be kept as primary, to distinguish it from unnumbered national tertiary roads and provincial roads.
Considerations
Population sizes of communities
One factor missed by the previous scheme is the population size of the communities served.
Cities with a population size of 100,000+ are usually the primary destination of trunk routes. Cities with a population size below 100,000 and municipalities with 100,000+ inhabitants are usually the primary destination of primary routes. Municipalities with a population size of 10,000-100,000 are usually the primary destination of secondary routes. Municipalities with a population size of <10,000 are usually the primary destination of tertiary routes.
That said, most places will have access from a route with a higher classification provided many are along a larger or longer route. In cases of conurbations like Metro Manila, the total population the of the cities forming it are taken into account. In such places, trunk should be limited to the main through routes across the region, and all others will be classified primary and below.
Other additional considerations are:
- Primary should generally be assigned to highways to all other municipalities that serve also as provincial capitals (see list below). This overrides the other guidelines mentioned above, and is done to highlight critical link roads especially in less developed regions.
- Trunk roads should generally follow routes passing through a regional center (see lists below), to highlight critical road links between regional centers.
| City | Population | Province | Regional center | Provincial capital | Part of metro area | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaminos | 99,400 | Pangasinan | ||||
| Bislig | 99,300 | Surigao del Sur | ||||
| Escalante | 96,200 | Negros Occidental | ||||
| Victorias | 90,100 | Negros Occidental | ||||
| Bogo | 88,900 | Cebu | ||||
| Passi | 88,900 | Iloilo | ||||
| Maasin | 87,500 | Southern Leyte | Yes | |||
| Calaca | 87,400 | Batangas | ||||
| Tagaytay | 85,300 | Cavite | ||||
| Dapitan | 85,200 | Zamboanga del Norte | ||||
| Bais | 84,300 | Negros Oriental | ||||
| Muñoz | 84,300 | Nueva Ecija | ||||
| Tanjay | 82,600 | Negros Oriental | ||||
| Cabadbaran | 80,300 | Agusan del Norte | Yes | |||
| Sipalay | 72,500 | Negros Occidental | ||||
| Oroquieta | 72,300 | Misamis Occidental | Yes | |||
| Borongan | 72,000 | Eastern Samar | Yes | |||
| La Carlota | 66,700 | Negros Occidental | ||||
| Tangub | 68,400 | Misamis Occidental | ||||
| Tandag | 62,600 | Surigao del Sur | Yes | |||
| Candon | 61,400 | Ilocos Sur | ||||
| Canlaon | 58,900 | Negros Oriental | ||||
| El Salvador | 58,800 | Misamis Oriental | ||||
| Panabo | 57,900 | Davao del Norte | Metro Davao | |||
| Batac | 55,500 | Ilocos Norte | ||||
| Vigan | 53,900 | Ilocos Sur | Yes | |||
| Palayan | 45,400 | Nueva Ecija | Yes |
| Municipality | Population | Province | Provincial capital | Part of metro area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodriguez | 444,000 | Rizal | ||
| Taytay | 386,500 | Rizal | ||
| Cainta | 376,900 | Rizal | ||
| Binangonan | 313,600 | Rizal | ||
| Tanza | 312,100 | Cavite | ||
| Silang | 295,600 | Cavite | ||
| Santa Maria | 289,800 | Bulacan | ||
| San Mateo | 273,300 | Rizal | ||
| Marilao | 254,500 | Bulacan | ||
| Lubao | 173,502 | Pampanga | ||
| Mexico | 173,400 | Pampanga | ||
| Polomolok | 172,600 | South Cotabato | ||
| General Mariano Alvarez | 172,400 | Cavite | ||
| San Miguel | 172,100 | Bulacan | ||
| Concepcion | 170,000 | Tarlac | ||
| Midsayap | 165,400 | Cotabato | ||
| Pikit | 164,700 | Cotabato | ||
| Sariaya | 161,900 | Quezon | ||
| Naic | 161,000 | Cavite | ||
| Capas | 156,100 | Tarlac | ||
| Pandi | 155,100 | Bulacan | ||
| San Jose | 153,300 | Occidental Mindoro | ||
| Liloan | 153,200 | Cebu | ||
| Minglanilla | 151,000 | Cebu | Metro Cebu | |
| Mariveles | 149,900 | Bataan | ||
| Consolacion | 148,000 | Cebu | Metro Cebu | |
| Arayat | 145,100 | Pampanga | ||
| Malasiqui | 143,100 | Pangasinan | ||
| Bocaue | 141,400 | Bulacan | ||
| Porac | 140,800 | Pampanga | ||
| Tanay | 139,400 | Rizal | ||
| Candelaria | 137,900 | Quezon | ||
| La Trinidad | 137,400 | Benguet | Yes | |
| Jolo | 137,300 | Sulu | Yes | |
| Nasugbu | 136,500 | Batangas | ||
| Norzagaray | 136,100 | Bulacan | ||
| Floridablanca | 135,500 | Pampanga | ||
| Daraga | 133,900 | Albay | ||
| Hagonoy | 133,500 | Bulacan | ||
| Talavera | 132,300 | Nueva Ecija | ||
| Angono | 130,500 | Rizal | ||
| Bayambang | 129,000 | Pangasinan | ||
| Guagua | 128,900 | Pampanga | ||
| Santo Tomas | 128,700 | Davao del Norte | ||
| Rosario | 128,400 | Batangas | ||
| Guimba | 127,700 | Nueva Ecija | ||
| Magalang | 124,200 | Pampanga | ||
| Santa Cruz | 123,600 | Laguna | Yes | |
| Candaba | 119,500 | Pampanga | ||
| Calumpit | 118,500 | Bulacan | ||
| Dinalupihan | 118,200 | Bataan | ||
| Malita | 118,200 | Davao Occidental | Yes | |
| Apalit | 117,200 | Pampanga | ||
| Bongao | 116,100 | Tawi-Tawi | Yes | |
| San Ildefonso | 115,700 | Bulacan | ||
| Los Baños | 115,400 | Laguna | ||
| Plaridel | 114,400 | Bulacan | ||
| San Juan | 114,100 | Batangas | ||
| Guiguinto | 113,400 | Bulacan | ||
| Manolo Fortich | 113,200 | Bukidnon | ||
| Mangaldan | 113,200 | Pangasinan | ||
| Libmanan | 113,000 | Camarines Sur | ||
| Subic | 111,900 | Zambales | ||
| Daet | 111,700 | Camarines Norte | Yes | |
| Rosario | 110,800 | Cavite | ||
| Glan | 109,600 | Saranggani | ||
| Naujan | 109,600 | Oriental Mindoro | ||
| Quezon | 109,600 | Bukidnon | ||
| Labo | 109,300 | Camarines Norte | ||
| Pulilan | 108,900 | Bulacan | ||
| Cauayan | 108,500 | Negros Occidental | ||
| Maramag | 108,300 | Bukidnon | ||
| Lingayen | 107,700 | Pangasinan | Yes | |
| Carmen | 107,600 | Bukidnon | ||
| Kawit | 107,500 | Cavite | ||
| Carmona | 106,300 | Cavite | ||
| Tiaong | 106,300 | Quezon | ||
| Malungon | 105,500 | Saranggani | ||
| Bulan | 105,200 | Sorsogon | ||
| Sultan Kudarat | 105,100 | Maguindanao | ||
| Sindangan | 104,000 | Zamboanga del Norte | ||
| San Rafael | 103,100 | Bulacan | ||
| Paniqui | 103,000 | Tarlac | ||
| Parang | 102,900 | Maguindanao | ||
| Santa Cruz | 101,100 | Davao del Sur | ||
| T’boli | 101,100 | South Cotabato | ||
| Calasiao | 100,500 | Pangasinan |
| Municipality | Population | Province | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baler | 39,560 | Aurora | |
| Bangued | 48,160 | Abra | |
| Basco | 8,570 | Batanes | |
| Bayombong | 61,510 | Nueva Vizcaya | |
| Boac | 54,730 | Marinduque | |
| Bontoc | 24,640 | Mountain Province | |
| Buluan | 50,000 | Maguindanao | |
| Cabarroguis | 30,580 | Quirino | |
| Catarman | 94,040 | Northern Samar | |
| Ipil | 74,656 | Zamboanga Sibugay | |
| Jordan | 36,100 | Guimaras | |
| Kabugao | 15,540 | Apayao | |
| Kalibo | 80,610 | Aklan | |
| Lagawe | 19,330 | Ifugao | |
| Mamburao | 42,980 | Occidental Mindoro | |
| Naval | 54,690 | Biliran | |
| Panglima Sugala | 44,180 | Tawi-Tawi | |
| Prosperidad | 82,630 | Agusan del Sur | |
| Romblon | 38,760 | Romblon | |
| San Jose (de Buenavista) | 63,540 | Antique | |
| San Jose | 27,490 | Dinagat Islands | |
| Siquijor | 26,860 | Siquijor |
Function, physical attributes, and government designation
There are many factors taken in account to determine the best road classification, but the three most important are:
- Functional criteria: Highways connecting large cities would be more important than highways connecting small towns. The greater the importance of the road involved, the larger the population of the communities involved.
- Physical criteria: The better the highway, the faster the travel speeds and greater the preference given to it, resulting to most traffic using it. Multi-lane highways, both divided and undivided, are generally more important than two-lane undivided roads and paved roads would generally be more important than unpaved roads.
- Administrative criteria: expressways and national roads would generally be more important than provincial roads, which would be more important than municipal roads. Local roads and access roads would also be less important than the main routes.
Visualization
A map of the proposed reclassifications is available in uMap. Map is still incomplete (and is hardly be due to the sheer size of the country); only Luzon is covered yet, but all sizeable cities and municipalities for the purpose of determining the best road classifications have been mapped.
Resources
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) provides two datasets which are useful when determining the OSM classification of national roads.
- Road and Bridge Inventory (interactive). Shows data for expressways and national roads (and bridges). Should provide an idea on what classification to assign any national road in OSM, but remember, do consider other factors before doing any mass reclassifications!
- Annual average daily traffic (AADT) data map. Note exclusions of traffic data in Metro Manila and Bangsamoro, which are under the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Bangsamoro Ministry of Public Works and Highways (MPWH), respectively.
For lower-level roads, resources from local government units (LGUs) are lacking and not much information online.
Notes and references
- ↑ Department Order 133, series of 2018, Department of Public Works and Highways