Tag:bicycle=dismount
 bicycle = dismount
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Indicates that riding bicycle is not allowed, but pushing bicycle is allowed. The tag bicycle=no on objects allowing foot traffic is commonly used to express this. 
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| Group: restrictions |
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| Status: in use |
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Tag sometimes used to express that (1) riding bicycle is not allowed (2) pushing bicycle is allowed. bicycle=no on object allowing foot traffic is also often used for the same purpose.
In some places it is illegal to both ride and push bicycle[1], there is no good tagging scheme to indicate it[2], bicycle_pushed=no, bicycle_pushing=no and bicycle_possession=no were suggested[3][4].
Objects where both cycling and walking (foot=no + bicycle=no) such as typical motorway are not problematic, as dismounting and walking while pushing bicycle is clearly not OK. But there is no standard way to indicate few places where you are not allowed to cycle, you are not allowed to enter with bicycle and walking (without bicycle) is perfectly fine.
Note that while roads/footways completely banning even pushing bicycles are quite rare compared to ones where just cycling is not allowed, bicycle=no is more popular. It is used over 942 000 times together with highway=*[5] while bicycle=dismount is used 158 000 times[6]. It indicates that majority of mappers is using bicycle=no to indicate places where pushing bicycle is OK. However, in recent years, bicycle=dismount usage is raising faster.
Even if someone is using bicycle=no with intention to state that pushing/carrying bicycle there is forbidden it is impossible to distinguish bicycle=no mapped with meaning "no cycling" and "no presence of bicycles is allowed". It makes these two tags mostly equivalent. However bicycle=dismount implies that pushing is definitely allowed, and often recommended by signs.
As of 2020 "dismount" value is supported by iD while not supported by JOSM. OSRM includes ways tagged with bicycle=dismount in cycling routes but indicates that bike-pushing is required. (Some versions of OSRM similarly recommend pushing a bike against the flow of traffic along a one-way street.)
In the same sense, some mappers use the distinction between "no" and "dismount" to map whether dismounting and pushing the bicycle is "recommended" (either directly by signs or when the section where you have to dismount is on a signed bicycle route).
For example on a signed bicycle route, there could be a short section where cyclists would need to dismount. In those cases, it might be preferable to tag bicycle=dismount, because bicycle=no could imply to some routers and data users that cyclists should use another route altogether.
Tag history
bicycle=dismount appeared and was used without consideration that it de facto duplicates older bicycle=no[7][8][9][10]. This attempt to redefine bicycle=no from "bicycling is forbidden" to "bicycling and pushing bicycle is forbidden" was not succesfull.
Potential redefinition
Multiple people like this tag and want to use bicycle=no for "not even bicycle pushing is allowed".
Standard opposition to deprecation/redefining of major tags is present.
In addition note that as use of bicycle=no for "no cycling is allowed" is very widespread, mappers would need to resurvey all locations where it is used. To track such resurvey some dedicated tag would be needed to mark whether bicycle=no is used for "no cycling allowed" or "no bicycle pushing allowed".
And at that point it is easier to simply have a new tag for rare "no bicycle at all in addition to forbidding cycling" and let bicycle=no mean pushing a bicycle is allowed.
Example pictures
Sign on the left is forbidding entrance with a bicycle - not only riding on a bicycle
See also: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cyclist_dismount_signs and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bicycles_forbidden_signs and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:No_cycling_signs
See also
- Rejection from JOSM presets
- "Usefulness of bicycle=dismount on ways"
- Tagging mailing list - Is there a good way to indicate "pushing bicycle not allowed here"?
References
- ↑ historic part of Venice and Nymphenburg Schlosspark in Germany, many subway systems
- ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2019-November/thread.html#49044
- ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2019-November/049072.html
- ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2020-July/054178.html
- ↑ https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/bicycle=no#combinations
- ↑ https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/bicycle=dismount#combinations
- ↑ See usage comparison: http://taghistory.raifer.tech/#***/bicycle/no&***/bicycle/dismount bicycle=dismount reached 100 uses on ways on day 2009-08-27. On that date bicycle=no was used 46 681 times on ways, with usage increased by 163 just on that day - see http://taghistory.raifer.tech/way/bicycle/dismount and http://taghistory.raifer.tech/way/bicycle/no
- ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2020-July/054162.html
- ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2020-July/054155.html
- ↑ https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2020-July/054153.html