[Talk-us] NC sidewalk data import

[Nick Bolten]

I'd like to second this! Also, hi Melanie!

In case it adds useful context, I'd like to give my own recommendations:
(1) get practice in mapping sidewalks yourself and (2) create an IP,
metadata, work, verification, and upkeep plan for the import.

For (1), the goal is to become familiar with the complexities and pitfalls
of mapping the information you want, as it's not actually only sidewalks,
but also intersections, curb ramps, etc, and these are often inconsistent
block-to-block and not well-captured by public data. Many folks have
trouble seeing the need for certain styles of pedestrian mapping until you
give them the task of mapping a neighborhood's sidewalks, curb ramps,
crosswalks, etc, such that routing software could route a wheelchair user
(and everyone else) accurately. Example: in my neighborhood, a very busy
intersection has some curb ramps that are quite a bit 'upstream' of the
intersection, which means I had to map two separate paths: the
directly-across-the-street path for most pedestrians and the
use-the-curb-ramp path for others.

For (2), I'll split it into sections:

a) You'll want to get familiar with the import standards docs:
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Import/Guidelines. The first thing to
figure out is the IP situation, since that can prevent the import entirely.
Is your data public domain / otherwise compatible with OSM's license? If
not, you'll want to get the process of requesting a relicensing ASAP.

b) In my experience, it is often faster to draw from aerial imagery
(particularly the new Mapbox Satellite imagery) + Bing Streetside in JOSM
than it is to import sidewalks due to the number of adjustments that need
to be made. However, if you're bringing in valuable metadata with the
sidewalks and/or crosswalks, that would shift the balance. For example, if
you have high-quality surface data (concrete, asphalt, etc) or a
relationship with agencies such that you could add a dataset ID for
maintenance purposes, that would make all the difference. Is there any
'extra', useful data you could bring in as part of an import?

c) You'll want a work plan: how will the import happen? Using the OSM
Tasking Manager has worked pretty well for us in the past and I believe you
should be able to use the OSM US one (I can help if you don't have
privileges). The primary issue there is to identify your work units (a
single block? Intersections?), because you should ideally map sidewalks and
intersections simultaneously, as the intersections will connect your work
in progress to the rest of the network. If you have the resources, I've
really wanted to add some dependency functionality to the tasking manager
to manage an 'associated intersections first then sidewalks' mapping
strategy. Maybe we could collaborate.

d) Verification is an important step and you'll get it nearly for free if
you use the tasking manager, especially if you work with your local OSM
groups to have some expertise doing reviews. Just keep it in mind.

e) Having a plan for upkeep can save you a lot of time later on. It could
mean engaging with or organizing local OSM communities, having a plan for
structured OSM contributions in your implementation of AccessMap, or a
strategy for triggering suggested edits based on changes in the upstream
dataset.

Hope this helps!

Nick

On Mon, Jan 28, 2019 at 2:48 AM Rihards <richlv at nakts.net> wrote:

> On 27.01.19 21:41, Melanie Mazanec wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'm a front end dev for a city government working on a side project to
> > fork and add to AccessMap <https://www.accessmap.io/> for North Carolina
> > cities.
> >
> > In order to make this happen, I want to import North Carolina city
> > sidewalk data into OSM.  I have no prior OSM experience, so I'm
> > following the suggested wiki protocol and reaching out here before
> > attempting an import.
> >
> > Does anyone have advice about tutorials or where to start?  Are there
> > any NC OSM communities or enthusiasts I can connect with?  Also, it
> > seems like there are two competing sidewalk data formats.  Is there a
> > preferred standard now?
>
> Hi, that's really great news - welcome to OSM.
> It would be useful if you would try some basic mapping first to get
> familiar with OSM data structure. Try to map something near your
> workplace or home.
> That doesn't stop you from working on the import, of course. Any
> questions on OSM are welcome on the IRC channel #osm (
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/IRC ), or any other OSM
> communication channel.
>
> > Thanks,
> > Melanie Mazanec--
>  Rihards
>
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