[Talk-us] [Imports] Proposing import of sidewalk data Seattle, WA, USA

Greg Morgan dr.kludge.gm at gmail.com
Sat Aug 6 22:40:33 UTC 2016


On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 6:01 AM, Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org> wrote:
> Meg,
>
>    sidewalk tagging in OSM is a complex issue. The fact that sidewalks
> are not tagged as individual geometries is not purely a shortcoming,  it
> is a compromise that keeps OSM data editable. Having individual
> geometries for every single sidewalk on the planet will not only
> massively increase the data volume but also require new and better tools
> for editing, e.g. moving the geometry of a street without having to move
> three parallel lines manually and so on.
>
> There have been several local imports of sidewalk data that were removed
> again because lack of prior discussion and/or because they were
> single-purpose imports that did not care about integration with the rest

I don't see how that is relevant here since Meg is engaging in a conversation.

> of OSM (for example: what should rendering engines do with sidewalks;

Again relevance:  I am still waiting for a stop sign to be rendered a
year after it was requested. If we wait until a stop sign gets all
artsie and fartsie, then it will never be rendered and it will never
be mapped or shall I say mappers will become uninterested without a
reward for their efforts.  We deny one stop light towns the pleasure
of seeing something happen on the map.  We need this kind of data
before the renders can even have some use cases to work from.
https://github.com/gravitystorm/openstreetmap-carto/issues/1683


> how do they integrate with normal footways; how is a sidewalk linked to
> the road along which it runs so that routing engines can say "follow
> sidewalk along XY road" instead of "follow unnamed footway"; how can
> routing and rendering use individual sidewalks and still gracefully fall
> back to another method where these are not defined, and so on).
>
> People are experimenting with different ways of mapping sidewalks.
> Under no circumstances should you perform an import that creates facts
> before your proposal for separate mapping of sidewalks has been
> discussed more widely.

I look at the recent turn lane work that MapBox is performing. They
have done a wonderful job of finding issues and developing use cases
for the rest of the community.  Far worse than the alleged GIGO of
this import is the NINO.  Without out MapBox's activity we would not
have a well developed definition of turn lanes.  Without sideway data
mapped and worked on, we'll get no where with these kinds-of
discussions.  I look forward to see what the Washington community will
find.  I am still working out details of my sidewalk edits.  I'd like
to build on the Washington data that will be developed.
https://github.com/mapbox/mapping/wiki/Mapping-guide-for-turn-lanes-from-imagery
https://github.com/mapbox/mapping/wiki/QA-for-turn-lane-data

Thank you Meg.

Regards,
Greg



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