Hello all,
I’m Luke (also known as https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/ruggs) and I have been managing the Apple Data Team’s projects in Malaysia. We have enjoyed numerous excellent discussions with local editors (angys, AkuAnakTimur, kucai, JaLooNz, and others) and we appreciate all of the feedback you have provided. Rather than limiting communication to changeset comments, I wanted to reach out here and share our contact information. We also have a few questions about road tagging and modeling.
For more context into our efforts please see:
https://github.com/osmlab/appledata/issues/150
https://github.com/osmlab/appledata
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Organised_Editing/Activities/Apple
There can be slight differences in tagging preferences between community members. These nuances are why we want to make sure there’s an open dialogue with our team. If you have questions about Apple (#adt) editing trends, please reach out.
To get the conversation started, I wanted to discuss highway classifications in Malaysia. For context, we have been using the OSM wiki (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Malaysian_Roads_Tagging) and feedback from the local community for policy decisions.
From previous communication, we heard that paved roads providing access to remote communities are typically classified as highway=unclassified. This is similar to the global policy on unclassified roads except for the suggestion they be paved. Since a residential road can also be paved, how do you commonly distinguish between the two?
We also had some questions about highway=service. The typical use cases are fairly straight-forward - parking aisles, alleyways, and such. However, we received some feedback that private neighborhoods (with entry gates) should also be using highway=service. This doesn’t seem to be a consistent trend, however, and the Malaysia Roads Tagging page doesn’t mention this. Is this policy something the community is moving towards or away from?
Finally, per OSM policy, highway=track should be used for dirt roads that access natural resources like farmlands and forests. However, dirt roads often access housing. Our team typically picks residential in this scenario, but is there a situation where a dirt road leading to houses should be track?
We appreciate the feedback and hope you find this thread an effective way to communicate with us. You may have talked with Andrew before as well, we work together and are both accessible via direct message.
Regards,
Luke Dow
Luke Dow (project lead) - DM link
Andrew Wiseman (community liaison) - DM link