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Organised Editing/Activities/National Trust Paths

The National Trust (nationaltrust.org.uk) is a charity set up to look after special places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Now the largest land owner in the area we operate, the National Trust cares for more than 250,000 hectares of land including 775 miles of coastline, 100,000 hectares of statutory wildlife sites, 28,000 buildings and structures, 300 historic mansions and gardens. The National Trust operates a membership business model which provides members with complimentary access to our pay-for-entry visitor attractions, but also seeks to provide extensive free access to the countryside. The pay-for-entry visitor attractions welcomed 2.5 million visitors in 2018, and an estimated 300 million visits to countryside sites. Recent internal analysis estimates that National Trust look after a network of 25,000 Km of paths which comprises both legally designated ‘Public Rights of Way’ (25%) and permissive paths (75%).

Project Background

Currently, there is no single digital inventory of paths in the UK. This project aims to capture a digital inventory of paths on National Trust land in order to:

  • Demonstrate how we are fulfilling our core purpose of providing access to special places.
  • Improve asset management including maintenance and enhancement of the path network.
  • Provide a digital base for trail curation and enhanced visitor experiences.

We are proposing to use OpenStreetMap to utilise 'crowd' contributions to the path inventory from the Trust's local staff and volunteer network, as well as the wider OSM community. Our aim is to capture path data (path routes and access tags) against a tagging schema (below) to build a consistent, comprehensive picture of paths and associated access for walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders. By using our network of property teams, we can use local knowledge combined with aerial imagery/GPS traces to ensure we are compliant with copyright rules. The data is then available royalty-free to anybody for the development of products to encourage appropriate access to our special places.

Proposal

We are proposing to capture Public Rights of Way (footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic) and paths the Trust permits access (permissive access on publicly accessible land and paths behind pay-for-entry barriers) and tag access following the schema below. Doing so ensures National Trust staff and volunteers capture path data consistently. Our hope is this will improve the overall quality of path and access data in OpenStreetMap.

We propose that we would:

  • Review existing path data on National Trust managed land.
  • Utilise our ranger network/property based staff for on-the-ground knowledge to verify the data.
  • Create any path networks which do not exist, split/amend any existing routes where needed.
  • Tag paths consistently using the guidance, updating any existing tags that contradict this (e.g. if a RoW is not tagged as such).

We do not propose to delete any routes in OpenStreetMap which exist and are verifiable on the ground.

Monitoring

Once paths have been updated in line with local property knowledge, we are proposing to pro-actively monitor the paths for any further changes. The monitoring process is automated and notifies local staff to changes (path routes created, amended & access tags) in their area of knowledge so that changes can be checked against the reality on the ground. We will make this code open for the community to use soon.

Path Tagging Guidance

England & Wales

We have worked with OSMUK and other partners to develop the following tagging guidance for National Trust staff and volunteers to follow when capturing paths in OpenStreetMap (previous version seen at the OSMUK community meet up in London on 29/06/2019 - see PDF). If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please comment in the discussion tab.

Tagging Guidelines[1]
Physical Property legal/access permissions
highway designation foot horse bicycle vehicle motor_vehicle


footway/

bridleway/

cycleway/

track/

path/

service/

steps/

etc. [2]

.



 Public Right of Way Footpath public_footpath designated no no no no
permissive/private[3] permissive/private[3] private[3] private[3]
Bridleway public_bridleway designated designated designated no no
private[3] private[3]
Restricted Byway restricted_byway designated designated designated designated no
private[3]
B.O.A.T. byway_open_to_all_traffic designated designated designated designated designated
-
Permissive Access Permissive Footpath permissive_footpath/- permissive no no no no
private[3] private[3] private[3] private[3]
Permissive Bridleway permissive_bridleway/- permissive permissive permissive no no
private[3] private[3]
Permissive Cycle Path permissive_cycleway/- permissive no permissive no no
no/private[3] private[3] private[3] private[3]
-
Pay for Entry Routes - customers/no customers/no customers/no private/no private/no


Optional Extras
legal Descriptive tags
prow_ref surface tracktype name wheelchair bridge ford note step_count [4]
<val> asphalt/unpaved/paved/ground/gravel/grass/sand/wood grade1/grade2/grade3/grade4/grade5 <text> yes/- yes/boardwalk/- yes/stepping_stones/- <text> <val>

last update:28/11/2019

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has very few public rights of way. The majority of access to the countryside is provided on permissive/pay for entry estate basis - in these cases the tagging schema for England and Wales applies. Public Footpaths also exist under the same access permissions as England and Wales, however different access permissions exist for Public Bridleways and Restricted Byways and Byways Open To All Traffic do not exist. The following describes three unique public access cases for Northern Ireland. If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please comment in the discussion tab.

Tagging Guidelines (Unique NI Cases)[1]
Physical Property legal/access permissions
highway designation foot horse bicycle vehicle motor_vehicle

footway/

bridleway/

cycleway/

track/

path/

service/

steps/

etc. [2]

 Public Right of Way Public Bridleway public_bridleway designated designated no no no
permissive/private[3] private[3] private[3]
Public Path - yes yes yes yes no
private[3]
Carriageway carriageway designated designated designated yes yes

last update:28/11/2019

Access =yes vs =designated

On reviewing the access tag values here, we have updated our guidance to follow the descriptions provided:

  • yes - the public has a legal right of access (e.g. it's open access land).
  • designated - a Public Right of Way legally 'designated' for use by that transport mode (e.g. a 'public footpath').

We will make this distinction in tag values and use cases clear to those involved in mapping.

Unique Tagging Scenarios

The scenarios below follow feedback from local property teams and offer tagging suggestions. Please feedback any changes to the proposed tags in the discussion.

Scenario Examples Suggested Tagging Suggested Descriptive Tags
Legal access for walkers/runners exists

(e.g. open access land) but access is temporarily discouraged. [1]

 Route has temporary diversions signs at the beginning and end of a route (e.g. for foot erosion control).

Signage recommends use of another route whilst repairs are ongoing.

 - highway=* (describes the route on the ground)

- foot= no (if route is not accessible or discouraged [2])

- horse=no

- bicycle=no

- vehicle=no or private (e.g. maintenance vehicles only)

- motor_vehicle=no or private (e.g. maintenance vehicles only)

 - surface = *

- tracktype = *

- note = * (to describe the individual scenario)

* if an obstruction exists,

node to indicate barrier=debris

Temporary obstructions exist (e.g. tree has fallen, landslip/erosion at coastal zones) which makes the route difficult to traverse.
Users need to purchase a permit to access a route. 'Permitted' bridleways on Trust managed land to open areas of an estate to horse riders.

Walking is allowed but cycling is restricted. (e.g. Green way-marked arrows with horseshoe stating 'Permit Holders Only').

- highway=* (describes the route on the ground)

- foot=permissive

- horse=permit [2]

- bicycle=no

- vehicle=no or private (e.g. maintenance vehicles only)

- motor_vehicle=no or private (e.g. maintenance vehicles only)

 - surface = *

- tracktype = *

- note = * (to describe the individual scenario)

Access rights unknown. [1] Path with known access permission (e.g. permissive access for walkers, cyclists) leaves NT managed land. Access on neighbouring land is unclear or not signposted. - highway=* (describes the route on the ground)

- access=unknown

[1] Recommend tags are updated in line with the proposed tagging schema as paths become accessible or access rights on neighbouring land is known.

[2] Community feedback: tags are rarely used/undefined - currently reviewing alternatives.

Trails

We're investigating how feasible it is to add National Trust trails into OpenStreetMap as relations. The majority of trails added have been for walkers, however we have added cycle trails and are open to adding other activity trails. We are currently adding 1-2 trails per site as we review and add in paths and access tags. We will update this page or create a new organised edit page to detail our approach should we take this further.

Rules-based app

Following our presentation at State of the Map 2019, we are interested in developing a rules-based app to capture, edit and update path geometries and tags in OpenStreetMap. Please contact us via email (below) for more details.

Time frame

In 2019, a pilot study was conducted and involved mapping a small number of properties and monitoring them for changes. It was expected that wide-scale path mapping would begin in early 2020 and continue until Spring 2021. However, the project was paused with the advent of the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

In early 2022, the project was re-established and discussion was had with the OSM Board to review the appropriateness of the project and schema. A pilot test was rerun using new desk based methods and feedback was sought from property staff / rangers. The expected project roll out is now due to start in the Winter of 2022 and will continue into late 2023. We aim to have 80% of properties mapped by the summer of 2023.

Editors

Our editing team is currently split between:

  • A GIS data team mapping paths at properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (liaison with local property teams for path and access information).
  • Property editors focused on mapping within their property or locally.

Our GIS team consists of the following OSM users:

Our property editors consists of the following OSM users:

There will be more users participating in mapping and we'll ask them to link to this page in their user profile.

OSM Community Meet-ups

  • SoTM 2019: 22nd September 2019. Link to the talk
  • Clumber Park meet up: 19th November 2019 - Path mapping briefing with property rangers, volunteers and two members of the local OSM community.

Tagging Schema Sources

UK Access Provisions: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_access_provisions

Access tag values adhere to table provided here: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:access

Disused tags

  • Due to lack of use, discouraged will now be listed as =no.
  • Discouraged was previously defined as ‘a legal right of way exists (see =yes) but usage is officially discouraged. Eg. RoW exists but discouraged for conservation / restoration.

Feedback and Contact

To feedback/comment on the project, please use the discussion tab. Please note replies will be delayed.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Guidance for NT staff/volunteers to use to tag paths consistently.
  2. 1 2 List provided is not extensive. Propose to use the tag to describe the route on the ground.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Optional tag value to describe specific use cases.
  4. ↑ Combine with highway=steps


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