Routino : Tagging Rules


Tags And Attributes

The different tags and attributes in the OSM format XML that are used by Routino are described below.

An important change for version 1.4 of Routino is that the tags in the input file are first processed according to a set of rules defined in a configuration file. This means that the information presented here is in two parts; firstly the tags that are recognised by Routino after pre-processing and secondly the transformations in the default configuration file.

Tags Recognised After Processing

This section describes the tags that are recognised by Routino after the tag transformations have been applied. This is therefore a much reduced set of tags compared to the original OSM data and also includes tags which are specific to Routino.

In all cases of tag processing values of true, yes, 1 are recognised as being affirmative and any other value is ignored.

Node Tags And Attributes

The node attributes id, latitude and longitude are used. The id atribute is required to associate the node with the ways and the position attributes are required to locate the node.

Transport Specific Tags

One tag is recognised for each of the different modes of transport: foot, horse, bicycle, wheelchair, moped, motorbike, motorcar, goods, hgv and psv. These indicate whether the specific type of transport is allowed to pass through the node or not.

By default for nodes all types of transport are allowed to pass through a node and specific tags must be used to remove the permissions for the transport.

Way Tags And Attributes

The tags from the ways in the data are the ones that provide most of the information for routing. The id attribute is used only so that the many segments associated with a way can be share a set of tags taken from the way.

The highway Tag

The most important tag that is used from a way is the highway tag. This defines the type of highway that the way represents. Any way that does not have a highway tag is discarded.

There are more highway types defined than are used by the router. The subset that the router uses are:

Note 1: This changed in version 1.3 of Routino - the bridleway and footway types were included within the path highway type.
Note 2: This changed in version 1.3 of Routino - the steps type was separated from the footway type.

Transport Specific Tags

One tag is recognised for each of the different modes of transport: foot, horse, bicycle, wheelchair, moped, motorbike, motorcar, goods, hgv and psv. These indicate whether the specific type of transport is allowed on the highway or not.

By default for ways no types of transport are allowed to pass along a highway and specific tags must be used to add the permissions for the transport.

The name Tag

The name tag is used to provide the label for the highway when printing the results.

The ref Tag

The ref tag is used to provide the label for the highway when printing the results.

The junction Tag

The junction tag is used to check if a highway is (part of) a roundabout. This tag is used for information to label the highway if no other name is provided.

The multilane Tag

The multilane tag is used to identify whether a highway has multiple lanes for traffic and this sets one of the highway properties. There is not normally a multilane tag but one needs to be added by the tag processing transformations. Values of true, yes, 1 are recognised.

The paved Tag

The paved tag is used to identify whether a highway is paved or not, this is one of the available highway properties. A paved tag may exist in the original data but normally the surface tag needs to be transformed into the paved tag.

The bridge Tag

The bridge tag is used to identify whether a highway is a bridge and therefore set one of the available properties.

The tunnel Tag

The tunnel tag is used to identify whether a highway is a tunnel and therefore set one of the available properties.

The footroute Tag

The footroute tag is used to identify whether a highway is part of a walking route and therefore set one of the available properties. This is not a standard OSM tag and is normally added to the individual highways by looking for route relations that are designated for foot access.

The bicycleroute Tag

The bicycleroute tag is used to identify whether a highway is part of a bicycle route and therefore set one of the available properties. This is not a standard OSM tag and is normally added to the individual highways by looking for route relations that are designated for bicycle access.

The oneway Tag

The oneway tag is used to specify that traffic is only allowed to travel in one direction.

The maxspeed Tag

The maxspeed tag is used to specify the maximum speed limit on the highway; this is always measured in km/hr in OpenStreetMap data. If the tag value contains "mph" then it is assumed to be a value in those units and converted to km/hr.

The maxweight Tag

The maxweight tag is used to specify the maximum weight of any traffic on the highway. In other words this must be set to the heaviest weight allowed on the highway (for example a bridge) in tonnes. If the tag value contains "kg" then it is assumed that the value is in these units and converted to tonnes.

The maxheight Tag

The maxheight tag is used to specify the maximum height of any traffic on the highway. In other words this must be set to the lowest height of anything above the highway (like a bridge) in metres. If the tag value contains a measurement in feet or feet and inches then attempts are made to convert this to metres.

The maxwidth Tag

The maxwidth tag is used to specify the maximum width of any traffic on the highway. This must be set to the minimum width of the contraints at the wayside in metres. If the tag value contains a measurement in feet or feet and inches then attempts are made to convert this to metres.

The maxlength Tag

The maxlength tag is used to specify the maximum length of any traffic on the highway (usually from a traffic sign) in metres. If the tag value contains a measurement in feet or feet and inches then attempts are made to convert this to metres.

Relation Tags And Attributes

The tags from the relations are used to associate more properties with the highways that are part of that relation. The id attribute is used so that relations that are members of other relations can be identified.

The footroute Tag

The footroute tag is used to identify whether a relation defines a walking route and therefore should be applied to the individual member highways.

The bicycleroute Tag

The bicycleroute tag is used to identify whether a relation defines a bicycle route and therefore should be applied to the individual member highways.

Tag Transformations

This section describes the set of tag transformations that are contained in the default configuration file. The configuration file tagging rules are applied in sequence and this section of the document is arranged in the same order.

Node Tag Transformations

Barrier Defaults

The first part of the tag transformations is to decide on defaults for each type of node. This uses the barrier tag in the OSM file and converts it into a default set of disallowed transport types.

Transport types through different barrier types
Barrier foot horse bicycle wheelchair moped motorbike motorcar goods hgv psv
bollard yes yes yes yes yes yes no no no no
kissing_gate yes no no no no no no no no no
stile yes no no no no no no no no no
turnstile yes no no no no no no no no no

Generic Access Permissions

The access tag is used to specify the default access restrictions through the node. If the tag value is no or private then all transport types are denied access (later tag transformation rules may add specific transport types back again).

Other Access Permissions

A tag named vehicle means any of the bicycle, moped, motorbike, motorcar, goods, hgv and psv transport types. A tag named motor_vehicle is transformed to mean any vehicle except a bicycle.

Specific Access Permissions

The final part of the access permissions is to use the specific transport type tags.

One tag is recognised for each of the different modes of transport: foot, horse, bicycle, wheelchair, moped, motorbike, motorcar, goods, hgv and psv. These indicate whether the specific type of transport is allowed through the node or not.

Way Tag Transformations

Highway Defaults

The first part of the tag transformations is to decide on defaults for each type of highway. This uses the highway tag in the OSM file and maps it into one of the highway tags that are recognised by Routino, defining the default allowed transport types and adding a number of properties.

The first part of the transformation is to convert the highway tag into one that is recognised by Routino.

Mapping of equivalent highway types
Original tag Transformed tag
bridleway path
byway track
footway path
living_street residential
minor unclassified
pedestrian path
road unclassified
services service
unsurfaced track
unpaved track
walkway path

The type of highway also determines the defaults for the types of transport allowed on the highway. The default assumptions are as shown in the table below.

Transport types on different highway types
Highway foot horse bicycle wheelchair moped motorbike motorcar goods hgv psv
motorway no no no no no yes yes yes yes yes
trunk no no no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
primary yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
secondary yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
tertiary yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
unclassified yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
residential yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
service yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
track yes yes yes yes no no no no no no
cycleway yes no yes yes no no no no no no
path yes yes (1) yes yes (1) no no no no no no
steps yes no no no no no no no no no

Note 1: A path allows bicycle or horse access by default only if actually labelled as a highway of type "bridleway" or certain values of the designation tag (described below).

Finally for the highway tag a number of properties are added depending on the highway type.

Properties on different highway types
Highway Properties
motorway paved, oneway, multilane
trunk paved
primary paved
secondary paved
tertiary paved
unclassified paved
residential paved
service paved
track paved (1)
cycleway paved
path paved (2)
steps

Note 1: A track is paved only if it is tagged as tracktype=grade1.
Note 2: A path is paved only if it was originally tagged as highway=walkway or highway=pedestrian.

Generic Access Permissions

The access tag is used to specify the default access restrictions on the highway. If the tag value is "no" or "private" then all transport types are denied access (later tag transformation rules may add specific transport types back again).

Other Access Permissions

A tag named vehicle means any of the bicycle, moped, motorbike, motorcar, goods, hgv and psv transport types. A tag named motor_vehicle is transformed to mean any vehicle except a bicycle.

The designation tag is used as an alternative method of identifying the legal right of way on a path (in the UK at least). The tag transformations convert these tags into a set of allowed transport types as shown below.

Aliasing of designation types
Designation tag Equivalent access permissions
bridleway or public_bridleway foot=yes, wheelchair=yes, horse=yes, bicycle=yes
restricted_byway foot=yes, wheelchair=yes, horse=yes, bicycle=yes
byway foot=yes, wheelchair=yes, horse=yes, bicycle=yes, moped=yes, motorbike=yes, motorcar=yes
footpath or public_footpath foot=yes, wheelchair=yes

Specific Access Permissions

The final part of the access permissions is to use the specific transport type tags.

One tag is recognised for each of the different modes of transport: foot, horse, bicycle, wheelchair, moped, motorbike, motorcar, goods, hgv and psv. These indicate whether the specific type of transport is allowed on the highway or not.

Highway Properties

If there is a surface tag then the highway is assumed to be unpaved unless the tag value matches one of the following: paved, asphalt or concrete.

Support for the obsolete paved tag is also provided and the highway is paved if this is set to a true value.

The lanes tag is used to identify whether a highway has multiple lanes for traffic or not (the number of lanes is not important in this case, only whether it is more than one) this sets one of the highway properties.

The bridge and tunnel tags are copied directly from the input to the output.

Highway Restrictions

The oneway, maxspeed, maxweight, maxheight, maxwidth and maxlength are copied directly from the input to the output without modification.

Highway Names and References

The name and ref tags are copied directly from the input to the output.

Relation Tag Transformations

Routes

The route tag can be used to determine whether a relation is part of a walking of bicycle route so that the footroute and bicycleroute properties can be applied to the highways that make up that relation.

The tag transformations that are applied for route relations are defined in the table below.

Route properties from different route types
Relation Tag footroute Property bicycleroute Property
foot yes no
walking yes no
hiking yes no
bicycle no yes
bicycle;foot or foot;bicycle yes yes