Talk:Tag:footway=alley

@Dieterdreist:, you added:

Also alleys which don’t have footway restrictions (e.g. bicycles or general traffic like motorcycles permitted) should not get the footway=alley tag.

Was this in response to someone's changeset on the map? I don't mind clarifying text, but this is seems more like it was meant for highway=footway. The problem with this text (aside from not using the wiki markup for tags) is that it makes the existing page less clear. I doubt that adding this will prevent the misuse you are seeing; highway=footway is already required. This sub-tag (or any footway=* sub-tag) makes no claim about access rights; that's all on highway=footway. --JeroenHoek (talk) 06:49, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

It was to make it clearer that highway=footway for alleys should only be used in case it is a footway, the term alley to me seems opposite to footway, an alley is typically usable by vehicles, but maybe this differs in different regions? —Dieterdreist (talk) 11:14, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

Yes, 'alley' has nothing to do with the type of traffic. In English 'alley' is used for all sorts of back lanes, paths, and ways (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alley). In OSM we use a limited sense of the word for ways of limited utility for through-traffic, following the use of service=alley. Everything else about access rights for different traffic classes is already covered by highway=footway. --JeroenHoek (talk) 11:32, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

The idea it is for back access and not for front door access is not something I could find in common definitions, at least not for the European situation, common meaning of alley is for example:

A narrow passage; especially a walk or passage in a garden or park, bordered by rows of trees or bushes; a bordered way. A narrow passage or way in a city, as distinct from a public street. A passageway between rows of pews in a church. As it is required for service=alley that the way is a service, it should be required for footway=alley that it is a footway, and underlining it in the wiki page doesn’t seem problematic, this is why I will revert your deletion. —Dieterdreist (talk) 14:44, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

Look at service=alley please… This is all explained there. Besides, if you look at the infobox you'll note that highway=footway is already required. --JeroenHoek (talk) 14:59, 16 August 2024 (UTC)