In numerous places that I’ve noticed, there are duplicate nodes representing bus stops — ones which were created manually by users based on surveys, and then the same stops added again when the NAPTAN database was imported.
The solution seemed obvious to me initially — simply delete the manually created node, as it’s now superseded.
However, it turns out that there’s often useful information in the tags of these manually created nodes that isn’t in the NAPTAN nodes. For example, here we see three stops rendered — there are actually four nodes — where the manually placed nodes mention which bus operators use the stop, which bus lines actually stop there, and the fact that there’s a bay for the buses to pull off the road.
My question is: what to do with these nodes? Having duplicate nodes representing the same things isn’t desirable; simply deleting the information that someone has taken the time to collect is also undesirable; but I hesitate to edit the NAPTAN nodes, because imported nodes like this may at some point be re-imported, or batch processed in some way that might destroy any modifications that have been made manually to individual nodes.
Can anyone give a definitive answer regarding whether it’s (a) permitted, or (b) advisable to modify imported nodes such as the NAPTAN bus stop nodes?
Thanks in advance.