[Talk-us] Naming Ramps

[Paul Norman]

On 7/30/2015 7:15 AM, Brett Lord-Castillo wrote:
> Related to this, I also wanted to look for some ideas on how to 
> generate names for the unnamed ramps in an OSM extract.
Most ramps in parts of the US I've traveled don't have name. What they 
do have is destinations, which indicate the information on the signs.

As an example, https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/32192639 has no name, 
but has destination=Lynden;Birch Bay. There is a sign indicating that 
this exit ramp leads to those places. 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/mvexel/diary/22419  provides some more 
information, and a picture of a complicated sign.

If you wanted to, you could label ramps with the destination 
information. This would be done in your processing toolchain - and it 
depends on what you want to feed the data into. If you were using 
osm2pgsql, I'd suggest Lua transforms, but if you're using a different 
ETL toolchain, there's probably a way to transform the data.

> These ramps are extremely import: a large number of traffic accidents 
> occur on them and we must dispatch to exactly the right ramp in a way 
> that can be quickly identified from information provided by a caller 
> (e.g. exit number is not helpful if the caller is already on the ramp).
Do have any data on how callers are describing their current location 
when they are on a ramp? My guess is they would describe the destination 
of the ramp or the exit number they took. Both of these are in OSM.

I can think of some ramps which are long and in remote areas where if 
you stop at the right place and look around, there are no signs to 
indicate where you are. If you get a call from one of these locations 
and the person doesn't know the area, there's probably no good way for 
them to describe where they are.