OpenStreetMap
Hi everyone,
I'm new here, I live in Toronto Canada. It's great that Open Street Map exists!
I've got a project in mind. Please let me know if this is happening already somewhere else...
Toronto is built to move cars around efficiently, but as more and more people switch to bicycles for various reasons, there is a need for efficient and safe bicycle route information.
I think the best way to create this resource is through a user generated bicycle route wiki. Users add their knowledge of good routes by sketching them on the map of the city.
I'm hoping this knowledge base will not only be used by cyclists but also by the City of Toronto Cycling Committee to help in planning and enlighten resource allocation debates.
Michael Holloway
Discussion
Comment from robotnic on 2 March 2010 at 17:27
Looks like other people have the same idea:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=43.6363&lon=-79.4544&zoom=12&layers=00B0FTF
Comment from Sam Wilson on 3 March 2010 at 00:29
There's http://www.bikely.com/, but it doesn't use OSM.
Comment from Michael Holloway on 3 March 2010 at 01:23
Thanks for the links everyone.
Been thinking... ..a blog post option associated with each route added. Blogs could be tagged or crawled to create a word-cloud. tag/word-clouds include: Location; start/finish, landmarks, Lat. - Long., and also for Purpose; rally, touring, commute, recreation.
Hovering over routes would pop-up tag/word cloud.
I'll start exploring map making tomorrow morning, after a good nights sleep.
Thanks again, help always welcome.
Michael Holloway
Comment from Guillaume Audirac on 3 March 2010 at 04:06
For your information, there is a french site using the OSM data to provide bicycle routing: http://www.geovelo.fr/. And this is done based on OSM tags only, without referring to cyclist experience (so yes it requires proper tagging with a good city coverage).
On this website, you can refine your preference in the left panel between distance and security, and the itinerary will be adjusted.
As of now, two cities are covered: Paris and Tours (selectable on the top). Give it a try.
Comment from Guillaume Audirac on 3 March 2010 at 04:09
Regarding cycling tagging, you can have a look at:
- http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features#Cycleway
- http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Bicycle
Comment from Baloo Uriza on 3 March 2010 at 07:46
http://www.opencyclemap.org/ (or click the + on the OSM map and select cyclemap)
Comment from Michael Holloway on 3 March 2010 at 14:39
@Guillaume Audirac
For the Paris, Tours link; I like it. And the Wiki links are most helpful. Merci!
@Paul Johnson Thank you for that.
Comment from Michael Holloway on 8 March 2010 at 00:22
Well... I thank everyone for their help, but I've having a great deal of trouble navigating the site - even finding a clear template upon which I can begin to pencil in routes eludes me. I'm not admitting defeat 'I'll be back', as the Terminator said, I'm not terminal I'll learn - eventually.
In the meantime I'm using the SportDistanceCalculator.com and the Bikely.com site mentioned above, to create a data base of routes in my blog and at a new Biking Toronto blog - for Toronto Cyclists to use This spring. :)
My Blog:
http://filter--blog.blogspot.com/2005/03/heres-example-of-how-we-could-list-user.html
Biking Toronto Blog:
http://bikingtoronto.com/michaelhollowayblog/2010/03/07/news-about-the-toronto-bicycling-route-mapping-wiki-project/
Michael Holloway