I’ve run across a few places where there seems to be some disagreement and confusion about how to distinguish between roads that should be tagged as highway=service versus highway=track. I see quite a few ways that get switched back and forth between the two tags each time a different mapper touches them.
So I figured I’d write up how I make the distinction. I understand that other mappers might think about these things differently, but here’s how I think about the two types of roads.
Service roads (highway=service) are:
- used to provide motor vehicle access from a through road or a local road to a specific destination (building, etc.)
- typically very short
- typically used for a single purpose
- often one lane (although sometimes wider)
- typically not named or numbered (i.e. no name or ref tags)
Some examples of highway=service: a driveway, an urban alley, a parking aisle, a short access road for utility equipment, an access road leading to one or more campsites, or an access road in a municipal dump.
Track roads (highway=track) are:
- local roads that are only wide enough for a single four-wheeled vehicle (i.e. dual-track on the ground)
- can be short or long (i.e. many miles)
- typically used for multiple purposes
- typically named and/or numbered when they are approved public routes of travel
Some examples of highway=track: a dual-track dirt road, a remote single-lane paved road, a graded single-lane road along a canal or railway, or a dirt road along the path of a power line.
The place that seems to cause the most confusion is where a longer road is used to access some sort of infrastructure. For me, this is typically a highway=track. Although roads like this can be used to access infrastructure (e.g. towers for high-voltage power lines) they can also be used for through travel, recreation, and other purposes. Roads like this are often designated for multiple uses by the land manager responsible for them.
In contrast, highway=service roads are typically short connections from a local or through road to a specific structure or facility.
Both highway=track and highway=service roads can be any type of road bed or condition (i.e. any combination of surface, smoothness, and tracktype tags). Adding these tags where possible is helpful to further define the type of road.