UK Designation Tagging Warnings

This report is generated by fetching a list of all designation=* values used in the UK, using the Taginfo GB API, and then comparing this with a list of recommended values and a list of common incorrect or holding values. The tables below show the number of objects with values from the two lists, together with any values that are close (in the Levenshtein edit distance sense) to a value in one of the lists. The latter are often typos or formatting errors that should be fixed. The values under the different headings are my personal recommendations, and not necessarily the consensus of the mapping community. So not everything under the negative headings will be wrong; other values may well be appropriate too. Also, note that while the data used to compile these tables only comes from the UK, the links to the Overpass API will return results from the whole planet.

Recommended values

These are values that I consider to be useful for use in the UK, to describe the precise legal classification of an object that might otherwise only be given a more generic tagging. Most are either classifications of Public Rights of Way and other special highways, or designations of nature reserves and other protected areas.

Value	No.	Notes
public_footpath	279456	A route designated as a Public Footpath under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
public_bridleway	60358	A route designated as a Public Bridleway under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
restricted_byway	7570	A route designated as a Restricted Byway under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
byway_open_to_all_traffic	8333	A route designated as a Byway Open To All Traffic under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
core_path	1311	A route designated as a Core Path under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003
permissive_footpath	4618	A route explicitly signed as a permissive route for pedestrians.
permissive_bridleway	1165	A route explicitly signed as a permissive route for bicycles and/or horse-riders.
permissive_restricted_byway	2
public_footpath;permissive_bridleway	54	A Public Footpath that is also a Permissive Bridleway.
unclassified_highway	4871	A track or other route which is technically an unclassified public highway, though often not suitable for regular road users. (Typically marked as "Other Route with Public Access" on Ordnance Survey maps, and possibly signed on the ground as "By Road", "Route", "Unclassified County Road", and/or "Unsuitable for Motor Vehicles".)
unclassified_highway;public_footpath	57	The rare situation of a Public Footpath running along an unclassified highway.
unclassified_highway;public_bridleway	30	The rare situation of a Public Bridleway running along an unclassified highway.
public_cycleway	181	A route that isn't marked on the Definitive Map as a Public Right of Way, but which is listed on the Local Authority's "List of Streets" as a Cycleway.
adopted_footway	425	A route that isn't marked on the Definitive Map as a Public Right of Way, but which is listed on the Local Authority's "List of Streets" as a Footway.
permissive_cycleway	42
quiet_lane	764	A road designated as a Quiet Lane under the The Quiet Lanes and Home Zones (England) Regulations 2006.
home_zone	26	A road designated as a Home Zone under the The Quiet Lanes and Home Zones (England) Regulations 2006.
common	453	Registered common land, under he Commons Registration Act 1965, as amended.
village_green	12	Land registered as a Village Green under the Commons Registration Act 1965, as amended.
town_green	1	Land registered as a Town Green under the Commons Registration Act 1965, as amended.
access_land	1183	An area designated as Access Land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
national_park	15	A National Park designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.
area_of_outstanding_natural_beauty	39	An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.
national_scenic_area	3	An area in Scotland designated as a National Scenic Area by Scottish Natural Heritage.
national_nature_reserve	41	An area designated as a National Nature Reserve (NNR) by Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, or the Countryside Council for Wales.
local_nature_reserve	143	An area designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) by a local authority in agreement with Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, or the Countryside Council for Wales.
roadside_nature_reserve	30	Several County Councils (including Kent, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk) run schemes to designate certain verges as 'Roadside Nature Reserves'.
site_of_special_scientific_interest	171	An area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England.
scheduled_monument	171	A nationally important site or monumen, designated as a Scheduled Monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
millennium_green	99	A Millennium Green, one of the areas of green space created to celebrate the new Millennium with grant funding from the Millennium Commission and others.
king_georges_field	3	A playing field or other area of land that has been dedicated as one of King George's Fields.
queen_elizabeth_ii_field	7	A playing field or other area of land that has been dedicated as a Queen Elizabeth II Field.
no	0	Preferred way of explictly tagging that there is no designation for an object. But usually, one would just omit the designation tag altogether.

Possible mis-spellings of recommended values

Value	No.	Possible mis-spelling of	Notes on recommended value
cart_path	29	`core_path`	A route designated as a Core Path under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003
LMC␣footpath	2	`public_footpath`	A route designated as a Public Footpath under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
permissive_byway	6	`permissive_cycleway`
adopted␣highway	20	`adopted_footway`	A route that isn't marked on the Definitive Map as a Public Right of Way, but which is listed on the Local Authority's "List of Streets" as a Footway.
national_trail	2	`national_park`	A National Park designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.
Access␣Road	1	`access_land`	An area designated as Access Land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
Access␣Gate	1	`access_land`	An area designated as Access Land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
Footpath	1	`core_path`	A route designated as a Core Path under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003

Common incorrect / temporary values

These are values that I think are either inappropriate or should be seen as temporary holding values until better information is available. The incorrect values may be common nomencalure errors, shortened forms, or abbreviations that would be better written out in full.

Value	No.	Notes
footpath	22	If an official Public Footpath, should be tagged with `designation=public_footpath` instead. Otherwise should not have a designation tag.
bridleway	74	If an official Public Bridleway, should be tagged with `designation=public_bridleway` instead. Otherwise should not have a designation tag.
byway	40	Ambiguous value. Probably intended to be `designation=byway_open_to_all_traffic` but could be `designation=restricted_byway`.
public_byway	133	Almost certainly should be `designation=byway_open_to_all_traffic` instead.
public_footway	1	If an official Public Footpath, should be tagged with `designation=public_footpath` instead. If a footway appearing on the 'List of Streets', then `designation=adopted_footway` would be better. Otherwise should not have a designation tag.
unknown_byway	3	Placeholder tag when it is unknown which of `designation=byway_open_to_all_traffic` or `designation=restricted_byway` should be used.
permissive_path	30	If an explicitly signed permissive footpath, then please use `designation=permissive_footpath` instead.
permissive_route	1	If an explicitly signed, then try to use a more specific designation, e.g. `designation=permissive_footpath` or `designation=permissive_bridleway` instead.
public_footpath;unclassified_highway	1
ORPA	24	Abbreviation for "Other Route with Public Access", a term used by Ordnance survey typically for tracks that are officially Public Highways but may not appear as such. Since this is an OS-specific term, its use in OSM may imply and/or encourage unlawful copying from Ordnance Survey, so it should be avoided. We should instead tag such routes with designation=unclassified_highway if this can be independenly verified (e.g. by the presence of traffic signs, or confirmation from the local council).
public_path	8	Common sign text for former Right of Way category "Road Used as a Public Path". Tag with `designation=road_used_as_a_public_path` instead.
public_highway	684	Should probably be the recommended value `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
unclassified_county_road	48	Obsolete term for certain minor highways maintainable at the public expense. Would be better tagged as `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
adopted_highway	19	Should probably be the recommended value `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
public_road	2	Should probably be the recommended value `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
public_right_of_way	100	A place-holder value for one of the four classes of rights of way defined by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, when the actual designation is unknown.
right_of_way	1	If used as a place-holder value for one of the four classes of rights of way defined by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, then it would be preferable to write out fully as `designation=public_right_of_way` instead.
public	2
permissive	39
private	19
cycleway	1
LNR	1	Probably an abbreviation for "Local Nature Reserve". If so, tag with `designation=local_nature_reserve` instead.
open_access_land	1	For areas designated as Access Land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, please use `designation=access_land` instead.
common_land	3	For registered common land, use `designation=common` instead.
none	34	In the unlikely event that it is necessary to explicitly ercord the fact that there is no designation, then `designation=no` would be preferred.

Possible mis-spellings of incorrect values

Value	No.	Possible mis-spelling of	Notes on common incorrect value
pemissive	3	`permissive`
Primary	2	`private`
Fort	1	`BOAT`	Abbreviation for "Byway Open to All Traffic". Tag with `designation=byway_open_to_all_traffic` instead.
Permissive	1	`permissive`
towpath	23	`footpath`	If an official Public Footpath, should be tagged with `designation=public_footpath` instead. Otherwise should not have a designation tag.
Right␣of␣Way	1	`right_of_way`	If used as a place-holder value for one of the four classes of rights of way defined by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, then it would be preferable to write out fully as `designation=public_right_of_way` instead.
orpa	4	`ORPA`	Abbreviation for "Other Route with Public Access", a term used by Ordnance survey typically for tracks that are officially Public Highways but may not appear as such. Since this is an OS-specific term, its use in OSM may imply and/or encourage unlawful copying from Ordnance Survey, so it should be avoided. We should instead tag such routes with designation=unclassified_highway if this can be independenly verified (e.g. by the presence of traffic signs, or confirmation from the local council).
note	1	`none`	In the unlikely event that it is necessary to explicitly ercord the fact that there is no designation, then `designation=no` would be preferred.
Holloway	3	`cycleway`
Road	1	`BOAT`	Abbreviation for "Byway Open to All Traffic". Tag with `designation=byway_open_to_all_traffic` instead.
Private	3	`private`
unadopted_highway	1	`adopted_highway`	Should probably be the recommended value `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
Ruin	1	`RUPP`	Abbreviation for "Road Used as a Public Path". Tag with `designation=road_used_as_a_public_path` instead.
public_way	13	`public_byway`	Almost certainly should be `designation=byway_open_to_all_traffic` instead.
public_way	13	`public_footway`	If an official Public Footpath, should be tagged with `designation=public_footpath` instead. If a footway appearing on the 'List of Streets', then `designation=adopted_footway` would be better. Otherwise should not have a designation tag.
public_way	13	`public_path`	Common sign text for former Right of Way category "Road Used as a Public Path". Tag with `designation=road_used_as_a_public_path` instead.
public_way	13	`public_highway`	Should probably be the recommended value `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
public_way	13	`public_road`	Should probably be the recommended value `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
Public␣House	7	`public_road`	Should probably be the recommended value `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
foot	5	`BOAT`	Abbreviation for "Byway Open to All Traffic". Tag with `designation=byway_open_to_all_traffic` instead.
Stone	1	`none`	In the unlikely event that it is necessary to explicitly ercord the fact that there is no designation, then `designation=no` would be preferred.
unclassified_country_road	1	`unclassified_county_road`	Obsolete term for certain minor highways maintainable at the public expense. Would be better tagged as `designation=unclassified_highway` instead.
Bridleway	1	`bridleway`	If an official Public Bridleway, should be tagged with `designation=public_bridleway` instead. Otherwise should not have a designation tag.
Bridleway	1	`cycleway`
primary	71	`private`