Proposal:Exit

exit
Proposal status:	Draft (under way)
Proposed by:	Push-f
Tagging:	exit=* Data item
Statistics:
Draft started:	2022-06-10
RFC start:	2022-06-10

Proposal

It is proposed that we:

1. Formalize exit=* as described under #Tagging.
2. Define that entrance=* implies exit=yes (unless the same object has an explicit exit tag or entrance=no).
3. Deprecate entrance=exit in favor of exit=yes.
4. Deprecate entrance=emergency in favor of:
   
   • exit=emergency for the documented use
   • entrance=* plus emergency=designated for the literal use
5. Deprecate entrance=entrance in favor of entrance=yes combined with exit=no.

Rationale

The Key:entrance proposal from 2011:

• introduced that "exits that may not be used as an entrance" should be tagged with entrance=exit
• introduced that emergency exits should be tagged with entrance=emergency
• did not describe how "entrances that may not be used as exits" should be tagged (entrance=entrance has since become the de-facto standard for that)

While the current tagging schema is well-defined and in widespread use these three tags are highly misleading:

• entrance=exit sounds like an entrance that is also an exit (when in fact it is not an entrance)
• entrance=emergency sounds like an entrance for emergency services (when in fact it is intended for emergency exits!)
• entrance=entrance sounds like an entrance that is also an entrance (the inference that it cannot be used an exit is entirely non-obvious)

This proposal strives to remedy these oversights because tags should be logical and descriptive.

Tagging

This proposal formalizes the following three values for exit=*:

Key	Value	Element	Comment	Rendering	Photo
exit	yes		A point where you can exit a building or enclosed area.
exit	emergency		An emergency exit is a one-way out of a building in case of fire. It is often combined with a fire alarm box.
exit	no		The node may not be used as an exit (useful if you want to tag that an entrance=* may not be used as an exit).

Tagging a node with entrance=* implies that it is also an exit, if that is not the case, add exit=no.

Exits that may not be used as an entrance should be tagged with exit=yes or exit=emergency, whereby entrance=* should be either omitted or set to entrance=no.

Comparison of new and deprecated tagging semantics

Tagging	Deprecated tagging	Is it an entrance?	Is it an exit?
entrance=yes	N/A	yes	yes (implied)
exit=yes	entrance=exit	no	yes
exit=emergency	entrance=emergency	no	yes
entrance=yes exit=no	entrance=entrance	yes	no

Entrances intended for emergency services should be tagged with emergency=designated (along with access=no if the entrance is not intended for the general public).

Examples

See existing wiki pages.

Rendering

Not affected.

Features/Pages affected

• Key:exit
• Tag:exit=yes
• Tag:exit=emergency
• Tag:exit=no
• Key:entrance
• Tag:entrance=yes
• Tag:entrance=main
• Tag:entrance=secondary
• Tag:emergency=designated (is currently only described for ways, would be extended to also apply to entrance nodes)
• Tag:entrance=exit (to be deprecated)
• Tag:entrance=emergency (to be deprecated)
• Tag:entrance=entrance (to be deprecated)

External discussions

• Tagging Mailing List - prior discussion
• Tagging Mailing List - RFC

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.