[OSM-newbies] How to map routes

[Thomas Wood]

On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 3:42 AM, Germán Buela <gbuela at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi guys,
> Two questions:
> 1) Is OSM a good platform for building a public transport database
> which will eventually tell you how to go from A to B? Can you browse
> transport services in a town, and see the route for any line you
> choose, or any lines that go through a certain neighbourhood /
> area...? Are the site developers aiming to have this kind of
> functionality? (that was more than 1 question... )

This level of functionality will probably not ever be implemented on
the main site, but the data in OSM can be used by others to create
such a service.

> 2) I've been trying to create some routes for my town in Potlatch,
> Play mode, but couldn't make that work. The instructions here (step by
> step guide): http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Relations/Routes
> don't seem to work, see my comments here:

The step-by-step guide was a bit wrong, I've corrected the wiki.

>   1.  Create each segment of the route and tag them as appropriate.

Additional segments overlapping the existing ways should not be
created. Relations should be applied directly to the ways which
represent the road/path/rail lines.

>   2. Select one segment and click on the second symbol on the right
> side, which looks like two chain segments.
> -----> Can't select segments individually! Therefore I can't tag them

Replace segment with way. If overlapping, the / key will allow you to
select one of the ones below.

> individually, nor complete step 2. I clicked on the icon after
> creating the route as a series of segments connected by nodes, but
> it's now an indivisible unit.
>   3. "Create a new relation" should be selected; click "Add".
> -----> I click on Add and the popup goes away...

Another should come up afterwards. I'm not sure why it would not.

>   4. Type in the word "route" and click "ok".
> -----> Where? The popup just went away, I'm on the map again. I'm
> pretty much stuck here, and the next steps don't apply. Where did I
> get it wrong? Thanks...!
>
>   5. Add aditional tags as needed.
>   6. Now there is a additional field which looks different from the
> other key/value input fields. This field describes the "role" of the
> way. Eg. bicycle/foot/bus.
>   7. Select one of the other segments and click on the "chain
> link"-symbol. Do not select "Create a new relation", but instead,
> select your created relation in the dropdown menu. This should be the
> one with the highest number in the list. Click "Add" to add the way to
> the selected relation.
>   8. Repeat for every other segment.
>

Just for reference, my version of these guidelines is:

   1.  Ensure all ways which the route runs along exist in OSM and are
appropriately tagged (eg highway=footway)
   2. Select the first way and click on the second symbol on the right
side, which looks like two chain segments.
   3. Select a relation from the drop-down, if there's an appropriate
existing one. Otherwise, select Create a new relation and click Add.
   4. Enter route as the value to the type tag.
   5. Add additional tags as needed. (Use the + button)
   6. Click OK.
   7. The relation is added to the way. The grey box to the right of
the relation details and to the left of the X is the input field for
the way's role within the relation, see the Members section above for
details of roles within the route relation type.
   8. Repeat steps 2-7, selecting the appropriate relation (the one
just created) in step 3.

-- 
Regards,
Thomas Wood
(Edgemaster)