Road signs in the Philippines

 

 

This page is intended to be a guide for recommended tagging for road signs in the Philippines. Some users may use alternative tags as such - if so, add them to the page or discuss them at the talk page or the mailing list. This page focuses of tagging recommendations that may not be universally accepted by the OSM community, and as such, may use tags that may trigger errors in some editors.
Please also consider reading the mapping conventions page. For a full list of all road signs, see the sign lookup table.

The Philippines maintains a standard for road signs, signals, and markings that are influenced by and derived from the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals and countries utilizing the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and similar documentation.

The Department of Public Works and Highways develops and maintains the Road Safety Design Manual as a standard for road signs, signals, and markings throughout the country. Its most recent version was published in May 2012.

Usage in OpenStreetMap

In the Philippines, a traffic sign is mapped as a node tagged traffic_sign=PH:R3-14, where "PH" is the country's ISO 3166 code and R3-14 is the sign's alphanumeric designation.

Sign series

Each standard sign or plaque in the Road Safety Design Manual is assigned an alphanumeric designation and organized by series.

Regulatory Signs (Type R)	Warning Signs (Type W)	Guide/Information Signs (Type G)	Signs on Expressways (Type GE)	Traffic Instruction Signs (Type S)
Priority Signs (R1) Direction Signs (R2) Prohibitive or Restrictive Signs (R3) Speed Signs (R4) Parking Signs (R5) Miscellaneous Signs (R6)	Horizontal Alignment Signs (Q1) Intersection and Junction Signs (Q2) Advance Warning of Traffic Control Device Signs (Q3) Road Width Signs (Q4) Road Obstacle Signs (Q5) Pedestrian and School Signs (Q6) Railway Level Crossing (Q7) Supplementary Signs (Q8) Other Warning Signs (Q9)	Advance Direction Signs (G1) Intersection Direction Signs (G2) Reassurance Direction Signs (G3) Finger Board Direction Signs (G4) Street Name Signs (G5) Town Name and Geographical Feature Signs (G6) Service Signs (G7) Tourist Information and Tourist Destination Signs (G8) Route Markers (G9)	Expressway Approach Signs (GE1) Expressway Information Signs (GE2) Advance Exit Signs (GE3) Expressway Exit Direction Signs (GE4) Expressway Service Signs (GE5) End of Expressway (GE6) Toll Signs (GE7) Expressway Traffic Information and Regulatory Signs (GE8) Route Markers (GE9)	Supplementary Signs (S1) Movement Instruction Signs (S2)

Unless otherwise specified, apply the suggested tags to whatever the sign refers to, which is typically not at the precise location of the sign itself. Optionally, the sign can be mapped as a traffic_sign=* node.

Regulatory signs

Right of way/priority

Sign number	Image	English	Filipino (only used if the sign uses or includes Filipino/Tagalog messages)	Tags
R1-1		Stop		highway=stop
R1-2/2P		Give way	Magbigay daan	highway=give way

Movement

Sign number	Image	English	Filipino (only used if the sign uses or includes Filipino/Tagalog messages)	Tags
R2-1/1P		Straight-on only		restriction=only_straight_on
R2-2/2P		Follow right/left; one-way traffic		restriction=only_right_turn restriction=only_left_turn oneway=yes
R2-5/5P		Turn right/left; one-way traffic		restriction=only_right_turn restriction=only_left_turn

Prohibitions

Sign number	Image	English	Filipino (only used if the sign uses or includes Filipino/Tagalog messages)	Tags
R3-1/1P		No entry		oneway=yes
R3-4		No entry for bicycles		bicycle=no
R3-7		No entry for bus		bus=no&tourist_bus=no
R3-8		No entry for trucks		hgv=no (Philippine traffic law doesn’t make a clear distinction between heavy and light trucks, but in general, a no trucks sign only applies to heavy trucks)
R3-10		No entry for pedestrians		foot=no
R3-13/13P		No right turn		restriction=no_right_turn (For turn restrictions with the "to" way is not a one-way. Otherwise, use oneway=yes)
R3-14/14P		No left turn		restriction=no_left_turn (For turn restrictions with the "to" way is not a one-way. Otherwise, use oneway=yes)
R3-15/15P		No U-turn		restriction=no_u_turn
R3-16/16P		No overtaking	Bawal lumusot	overtaking=no

Speed limit signs

Sign number	Image	English	Filipino (only used if the sign uses or includes Filipino/Tagalog messages)	Tags
R4-1		Maximum speed limit		maxspeed=*
R4-2/4-2A		Speed limit derestriction/end of speed limit (rarely found outside expressway work zones with temporary speed restrictions)		Default maxspeed=* plus context (source:maxspeed=*), as implied by the Land Transportation and Traffic Code (Republic Act No. 4136).
R4-3		Minimum speed limit		minspeed=*

Parking, loading/unloading, and stopping

Sign number	Image	English	Filipino (only used if the sign uses or includes Filipino/Tagalog messages)	Tags
R5-1S/1P/		No parking	Bawal pumarada	parking:both=no + parking:both:restriction=no_parking select here both, right or left, as applicable
R5-3P		No parking anytime (may depend on day if indicated on the sign)		parking:both:restriction:conditional=no_parking @ (Mon-Fri) (if days are specified) select here both, right or left, as applicable
R5-3C		No parking, tow-away zone		parking:both=no + parking:both:restriction=no_parking In a zone always both sides apply
R5-4B/4C		Loading/unloading zone	Sakayan at babaan	highway=bus_stop, plus public_transport=platform (if standalone node) or public_transport=stop position (if node on way). Node placed location where sign is installed. Location where vehicles can stop assumed to be 15 meters from sides of sign, depending on arrow direction. Consider adding it to the public_transport=stop_area
R5-8		No stopping		parking:both=no + parking:both:restriction=no_stopping select here both, right or left, as applicable
R5-9A/9B/9C		No parking, bus/jeepney stop		highway=bus_stop, plus public_transport=platform (if standalone node) or public_transport=stop position (if node on way). Node should be approximately at the middle of the signs.

Miscellaneous

Sign number	Image	English	Filipino (only used if the sign uses or includes Filipino/Tagalog messages)	Tags
R6-2		Width restriction		maxwidth=*
R6-3		Height restriction		maxheight=*
R6-4		Weight restriction		maxweight=*
R6-6		Width restriction		maxlength=*
R6-8/9/11		Pedestrian/children/wheelchair crossing		highway=crossing(standalone) footway=crossing(used along with highway=crossing if crossing is part of footway)
R6-10		Bike lane		crossing=uncontrolledandbicycle=yes(if bike lane crosses a street)

Warning signs

Sign number	Image	Kind of sign	Tags
W1-1L/R		Turn	hazard=turn
W1-2L/R		Reverse turn	hazard=turns
W1-3L/R		Curve	hazard=curve
W1-4L/R		Reverse curve	hazard=curves curves=serpentine
W1-5L/R		Winding road	hazard=curves curves=extended
W1-6L/R		Hairpin bend	hazard=curve
W2-8 (L/R)/9 (L/R)/10		Priority side junction/priority merge/priority crossroad	highway=priority. Use along with highway=stop or highway=give_way on the side road if they are present, such as on expressway entrance ramps or sometimes on channelized turn lanes at an intersection and rarely in side junctions)
W5-3		Humps	traffic_calming=hump
W5-4/W5-5		Steep descent/ascent	incline=up or incline=down
W7-1/W7-4		Railroad crossing	railway=level_crossing

Guide signs

Sign number	Image	Kind of sign	Tags
G1-1 to G1-5		Directional guide signs	destination:forward=* or destination:backward=*(on two way roads, depending on the direction of path arrows on JOSM),destination=*(if destinations is on one-way)
G7-2/G7-5		Service sign (advance direction to service)	destination:forward=* or destination:backward=*(on two way roads, depending on the direction of path arrows on JOSM),destination=*(if destinations is on one-way)
		Route number sign	ref=*

Expressway signs

Sign number	Image	Kind of sign	Tags
G2-3		Lane direction sign	destination:lanes=*. If on the top of the entrance to a single-lane road (such as in an ramp), use destination=* instead.
GE2-1A		Prohibited on expressway	Expressway entrance (highway=motorway) or expressway entry ramp (highway=motorway_link). Implies access restrictions for certain traffic, but have to add the implied access restrictions for Philippine expressways (highway=motorway) in OSM tags for routing/Access-Restrictions.
GE3-1/3-2		Exit advance sign	destination=* (for the ramp), destination:lanes=* (on the expressway section with deceleration lanes for the exit), name=* (name of the exit, usually the main destination of the exit. In some cases the exit name doesn't necessarily match the posted destinations, e.g. Santo Toribio exit on STAR, Soldiers Hills on SLEX, and the former Hillsborough exit on Skyway)
GE4-1		Exit destinations	destination=*/destination:street=*destination:symbol=* (for the ramp). Same tags plus :lanes suffix (for the expressway segments with deceleration lanes leading to the ramp) name=* (name of the exit, see above for notes.) destination:ref=route number. (Where marked. Please don't use cardinal directions, as these aren't used)
GE4-3A		Exit number	highway=motorway_junction+noref=yes (for an unnumbered exit) highway=motorway_junction+ ref=* (for a numbered exit)

Others/exceptions

Image	Description	Tags	Notes
	Boundary arches or welcome signs at provincial, city/municipal, and barangay boundaries	traffic_sign=city_limit+name=province, city/municipality, or barangay	man_made=gantry is suggested to mark the arch structure itself.
	Kilometer markers	highway=milestone + distance=*
	Bridge name plaques under bridge weight limit	bridge:name=*	Bridge name plaque also provide the distance of the bridge from a Kilometer Zero (particularly Rizal Park for most highways), and must be tagged as distance=*.

External links

• Highway Safety Design Standards Manual
• Category:Diagrams of road signs of the Philippines at Wikimedia Commons