Relation modelling

Bus routes and other public transport are modelled as route relations in OSM.

That means the streets are free of any bus tagging, they are collected in the relation in the order of the route. Stops are collected in the same relation. If different bus routes serve the same stop, the stop is only mapped once, and added as member to the different relations. If there is a series of stops aligned along the road for different operators, they can be mapped separately of course.

There is some development in the way of tagging transport routes, the current scheme is the Public Transport Version 2 (PTv2), and the wording can be read here: Proposed features/Public Transport. General public transport information can be found here: Public_Transport

Following that scheme initially means to create 2 separate relations for both directions (A to B, and B to A) of a public transport route.

Route vs. Infrastructure

This becomes particularly interesting for railways. What is built on the grounds, the sleepers and the rails, are tagged as railway=rail, whether being used or not. Also, the node on the line tagged railway=station or railway=halt (small one) would be what has been built on the ground.

Taking the section of the rail into the route relation would define that the particular train serves it. Taking the node as a member into the route relation would define that the particular train connection stops there.

route=bus
type=route
name=Tramore - Waterford - Dublin Airport
operator=JJ Kavanagh & Sons

Rendering

ÖPNVKarte renders the public transport routes. Click here for Ireland

Editors / JOSM:

Switch on relations in the left dock of buttons, the little gear wheel. In the relations menu in the right dock, click the "+ wheel" to create a new relation. The popup window shows you the currently selected item in OSM on the right hand side, you can click the arrow to make it a member. There are tools for inserting at different positions in the list, and for sorting.

List of bus routes in Ireland

network=Transport for Ireland
operator=Bus Éireann

network=Expressway
operator=Bus Éireann

network=Transport for Ireland
operator=Dublin Bus

network=Transport for Ireland
operator=Go-Ahead Ireland

operator=J.J. Kavanagh & Sons

operator=St. Kevins Bus Service

network=Aircoach

network=Citylink

List of rail routes in Ireland

network=Commuter
operator=Iarnród Éireann

network=InterCity
operator=Iarnród Éireann

network=Dublin Area Rapid Transit
operator=Iarnród Éireann

network=Luas
operator=Transdev Ireland