[OSM-talk] Involving Cyclists in OSM

[Paul Norman]

On 12/8/2015 4:40 PM, Clifford Snow wrote:
> I am meeting with one of the key players in Seattle's cycling clubs to 
> pitch doing a presentation to their membership. I'm interested in 
> hearing from cyclists on why and how OSM is useful to them. I have no 
> problem talking about the open data concept and incorporating slippy 
> maps, but I want to make sure I cover the salient points that would 
> interest cyclists. If you know of any websites that use bike routes or 
> otherwise make use of OSM data that would really be great.
>

Cycling is an area where OSM is at its strongest, given the traditional 
focus on car navigation by other data sources. I've used the other data 
sources professionally, and they're improving, but not near OSM's 
completeness or detailed attributes.

Some bigger projects

http://www.cyclestreets.net/ (UK-only) has cycle-specific route planning

http://cycle.travel/ has similar features, and includes US coverage. It 
does a reasonable job of dealing with bad TIGER data in the rural US. 
This is probably less of an issue in Seattle since you'd be looking at 
more urban or mountain biking, not rural "roads".

http://www.opencyclemap.org/ is also worth a demo, being one of the most 
established bicycle-focused renderings

OpenTripPlanner can use OSM data and do multi-modal routing, which can 
be essential for data-based cycling advocacy

osm.org itself has bicycle routing from two engines

OSM maps on Garmin devices including cycle devices is a typical OSM 
strength. Depending on audience, they might be interested specifically 
in this.

For what points to pitch, I'd suggest

- A more complete data source for bicycles, walking, and anything other 
than car navigation

- Crowd-sourced, so they can edit themselves, meaning they can get fixed 
data in minutes to days, not quarters to years

- Useful for cycling advocacy, as it presents a more accurate less 
car-focused set of data, and the open tools around OSM make it easier to 
draw potential options

- I'd avoid "open data" as in the US that's often taken to mean working 
with government data.

- Areas like the North Shore in Vancouver have mountain paths which 
aren't in and will never be in "official" datasets, but are essential if 
you're cycling there. I'm not sure if there's analogous areas in the 
Seattle area.

What area does the club focus on? (e.g. mountain biking, commuter 
cycling, etc)