[Talk-GB] TfL Cycling Infrastructure Database

[Martin Lucas-Smith - CycleStreets]

On Tue, 11 Jun 2019, Tony Shield wrote:

> Looking at the demo I can't think of a reason why OSM would not want this 
> data - I believe we do want this data.
> 
> Questions I have -
> 
> * Are the tags suitable for a global database? Can and should they be 
> reused elsewhere in UK? or globally? Is there a need for specific 
> prefixed TfL tags?

I'm about to circulate a proposed mapping of TfL's attributes to OSM tags. 
In some cases, there is no equivalent, e.g. signage plates/locations do not 
have an equivalent in OSM). In some cases I believe there are new tags that 
could be created, e.g. there are a lot of cyclehoop stands which are just 
arms bolted to an existing signpost, and which there doesn't seem to be an 
existing OSM tag for (surprisingly).

I certainly don't believe that OSM should be creating anything 
London-specific or maintaining proprietary prefixing.


> * Are there clashes with other cycling data in London?  What is a 
> resolution strategy?
> 
> * Will import and integration be performed by automatic processing? Usual 
> OSM import rules? Clash detection and sanity checking?

Clearly, there is overlap with existing OSM data, in that for instance, a 
high proportion of the cycle/bus lanes are present, cycle parking is 
sometimes present (though the TfL data seems more comprehensive to me), 
etc.

TfL seem potentially interested in funding tool development, which in my 
view should be of a generic nature that supports other conflation efforts. 
Richard Fairhurst's new tool, and other things like the JOSM conflation 
tool is amongst others I am currently looking at. I would welcome any 
pointers to other tools that people would recommend or are aware of.

It seems to me that a manual conflation process, assisted by pre-processing 
to weed out obvious clashes or mismatches, and with workflows optimised 
towards the large volume of data here (e.g. approving several nearby cycle 
parking locations in one go) would be the way forward. Again, any views 
most welcome.


Martin,                     **  CycleStreets - For Cyclists, By Cyclists
Developer, CycleStreets     **  https://www.cyclestreets.net/