Tag:highway=busway
 highway = busway
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| Description |
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A dedicated, separate roadway for buses. 
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| Group: highways |
| Used on these elements |
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| Implies |
| Useful combination |
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| See also |
Status: approved
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| Tools for this tag |
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The highway=busway tag indicates a dedicated, separate way for the use of 
public transport buses.
Busways are not meant to be used by motorists, pedestrians, or cyclists. Bus-only link roads connecting to a busway are also considered to be covered by highway=busway. It is important to state that service levels aren't a requirement for roadways to be tagged as highway=busway, instead that is solely based on the infrastructure itself.
Sometimes these roadways are referred to as "fixed guideways" by government agencies but should not be confused with guided busways, which use rail-like guides or tracks rather than ordinary paved roads. Additionally, this tagging does not apply to painted bus lanes on public roads or transit malls, even though they are also commonly referred to as busways.
Busways can be important pieces of infrastructure for public transport systems. Although not a requirement, it is therefore not uncommon for busways to be served by high quality and high frequency bus services. Additional features such as priority at intersections with other traffic and high quality bus stops are sometimes present. The most optimized systems of busways are sometimes known as bus rapid transit (BRT), a bus-based public transport system using almost fully dedicated infrastructure for buses. To reach very high service levels, these systems usually have design features that not only give priority to buses at intersections, but also reduce terminal dwell time caused by passengers boarding or leaving buses or purchasing fares.
How to map
Draw the 
bus-only carriageway and add highway=busway.
What is not a busway
The following features may allow access buses while restricting other forms of traffic, but they should not be tagged with highway=busway:
| Feature | Description | Example | Correct tagging scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bus-only service roads | A short service road that leads away from the main carriageway to a bus system administration, operations facility (e.g., bus terminal, bus garage, etc.). | highway=service + access=no + bus=yes | |
| Bus-only motorway links | These are motorway sliproads/ramps that are designated for buses only. Sometimes, they feed directly into an enclosed bus station. |  Ramps leading into Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City, in which general traffic is disallowed. Image |
Any section of bus-only roadway that connects to any regular traffic road should be tagged with highway=motorway_link + access=no + bus=designated.
Any section of bus-only roadway that only leads into a bus station should be tagged with highway=service + access=no + bus=designated. |
| Physically-separated bus bypass lanes | These are short stretches of bus-only roadway at intersections that allow buses priority through an intersection before re-entering general traffic. |  A designated bus-only throughway off of Piccadilly Circus in London. |
To determine the correct value of highway=*, consult the lookup table for link roads between different highways types. Apply bus=yes in addition to any other appropriate access tag. |
| Car-free streets | In some streets, private motor vehicles are banned or greatly restricted and as a result, the street may be dominated by buses and other forms of public transport. This alone does not make it a highway=busway. A related concept is transit malls.
The main question to consider is whether the infrastructure is primarily designed for buses or serves a wide range of road users. Criteria include: Are cyclists allowed? Are taxis allowed? Are certain private motor vehicles allowed, at least at certain times of day e.g. for loading and unloading? Are there local businesses (e.g. cafés, restaurants, shops) and/or residential buildings along the street, that the street gives access to? Are there frequent cross streets and traffic lights that require buses to stop, slowing down journey times? If the answer to many of the above questions is yes, then you are probably not looking at a busway. |
highway=unclassified or a similar tag, plus access tags as appropriate, e.g. motor_vehicle=destination or motor_vehicle=no and bus=designated.
If taxis are permitted, use taxi=yes. If a road requires motor vehicles to turn right at the next intersection, use turn restrictions. If the restrictions on motor vehicles only applies during certain hours of the day, use conditional restrictions. | |
| Physically-separated bus bays | Bus bays are areas outside the main carriageways for buses to pick up and drop off passengers. Some bus bays are physically separated from the road. | highway=service + bus_bay=* | |
| Painted bus lanes | These are bus lanes that are not physically separated from general traffic. | Please consult Key:busway and bus lanes. | |
| HOV Lanes | These are physically separated sections of roads on motorways where motor vehicles must contain a minimum number occupancy in order to be allowed access. Sometimes, buses are routed onto these roads. | Please consult Key:hov. |
_20_-_14th_Street_Busway.jpg)
Tags used in combination
| Tag | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| name=* | Name of the busway (if applicable) | Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway |
| operator=* | Name of the operator (if known) | Port Authority of Allegheny County |
| embedded_rails=* | If a busway shares a right of way with a (former or current) rail line. | light_rail |
| trolley_wire=* | For busways used by trolley-buses | |
| bus_bay=* | Whether a section of busway contains a bus bay. |
Intersections
Use highway=busway also for link roads (sliproads / ramps) leading to and from the main carriageway, as well as for "channelised" (physically separated by an obstruction) at-grade turning lanes connecting the through carriageways/through lanes of the busway to other minor roadways. The table illustrates which highway=* is to be used when mapping link roads connecting to busways. Do not apply highway=busway to any bus-only link roads that does not actually connect to the carriageway of any busway corridors.
| From | To | The link between will be tagged as: |
|---|---|---|
| busway | service | service
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| unclassified/residential | busway | |
| tertiary | ||
| secondary | ||
| primary | ||
| trunk | ||
| busway | ||
| motorway | motorway_link |
Rendering
An alternative Carto style from Tracestrack location.
Rendering in OsmAnd (the lavender Maxisweg).
The standard OSM Carto style does not render this tag. Two pull requests have been contributed — one in September 2021[1], and one in October 2022[2] — but none of the Carto maintainers have been found willing to either apply one of these or provide an alternative.
Compare OSM Carto and Apache Baremaps:
Compare OSM Carto and OpenStreetMap Americana:
Combination with sidepaths
Care should be taken with sidepaths for both pedestrians and bicycles. The defined access value is no which forbids pedestrians and cyclist. This happens to be because most highway=busway are located in the middle of a road, between two carriageways, sometimes fenced and thus usually doesn't sport any sidepath outside of platforms so neither pedestrians nor cyclists can legally access the highway=busway in most jurisdictions.
However, in the rare case it's built to the side or as its own road, the highway=busway may be built with its own sidepath. This stands in conflict to the access value because the sidepath inherits the carriageway's access values so routers will generally ignore the highway=busway because they think accessing the sidepath is illegal if they take highway=busway for routing into account. Smart routers may override the (implied) access=no at positive sidewalk and cycleway values but to be sure, always add foot=yes and bicycle=yes to a highway=busway when its sidewalk / cycleway values are positive.
 | Never should you falsify data just because a router doesn't support a highway value! This is tagging for the router and discouraged on OSM and the actual solution is to fix the router instead. |
This issue doesn't apply if the sidepath is drawn as its own way already (which might be preferable in this situation).
Adoption
Despite the persistent lack of support in OSM Carto, since 2021, this tag has been more widely adopted than the discouraged combination of highway=service+service=bus and the related highway=bus_guideway, which has been supported for a long time.
