Some Metro data exports include “forward” and “reverse” counts for a road or path. These values show the number of activities traveling in each direction along an OpenStreetMap (OSM) line. Forward and reverse are based on the geometry of the OSM way, not traffic rules or one-way restrictions.
To understand which direction is forward or reverse for a specific edge, you can look at how the corresponding OSM way was drawn. Every OSM line is made up of a series of nodes. The first node marks the start of the line geometry and the last node marks the end. Forward represents travel from the first node to the last node. Reverse represents travel from the last node back to the first. This is true even if the street is two-way or if the mapped direction is not aligned with the actual traffic flow on the ground.
If you want to check the direction in OSM, open the way in an editor such as OSM’s iD editor and view the order of the nodes. The starting point is the first node in the list and the ending point is the last. Once you know the direction of the OSM geometry, you can match it directly to the forward and reverse counts in your Metro export.