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OpenStreetMap.org Gets Routing

Posted by timothy on from the proceed-to-virtuous-circle-way dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Good news for OpenStreetMap: the main website now has A-to-B routing (directions) built in to the homepage! The OSM website offers directions which are powered by third-parties using OSM data, providing car, bike, and foot routing. OpenStreetMap has a saying: 'What gets rendered, gets mapped' – meaning that often you don't notice a bit of data that needs tweaking unless it actually shows up on the map image. It will make OpenStreetMap's data better by creating a virtuous feedback loop."

7 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. OSM did progress by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Comparing OSM with Google Maps, OSM did progress a lot, compared to a couple of years ago. I find more readability in Google maps, but that's maybe only a matter of taste.

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  2. Re:A decade behind the rest by Nicopa · · Score: 5, Informative

    No. OpenStreetMap is more a data backend and its website is more oriented toward mappers than to regular users (although that is slowly changing). Routing services using OSM have been available for quite some time. OpenStreetMap is already ahead Google in many places where Google has broken and partial information.

  3. Re:Now needs a better phone app by NotInHere · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm happy with osmand

  4. Re:Now needs a better phone app by NotInHere · · Score: 5, Insightful

    GoogleMaps will never have a sane license for their maps. When you edit google maps, you perhaps improve their map. But its their map then, not yours anymore. OSM map is everyone's. You instantly have access to all kinds of map data -- google maps will never be as good as OSM here. Want to generate a power grid of europe? if you have the knowledge, its just a command away.

  5. Re:Now needs a better phone app by RDW · · Score: 3, Informative

    Google's mapping products have been getting steadily worse for the last couple of years. On a phone, Maps 6 was the last great version, with My Maps and Latitude nicely integrated, half-decent offline caching, and sane road colouring (especially for, e.g., UK users). Now we have a dumbed-down app that's superficially prettier with the currently fashionable low-contrast look that's harder to read, poorer road colouring in various countries, Latitude swallowed by Google+, and My Maps pointlessly spun off into a separate app. The desktop version also has a trendier but largely poorer interface, and although the 'Classic' version remains for the moment, 'migrated' My Maps tracks and locations no longer work properly. Purely for offline use, the Nokia Here maps app is so much better it's embarrassing - on a phone, you can cache an entire country or US state in a form that's fully searchable and routable with turn by turn navigation, and doesn't expire.

  6. Re:A decade behind the rest by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I added streets to osm and google maps had the data a few weeks later. I know it my osm data because I didn't know one street name, left it as the initial unique identifier, and that's what showed up.

    I assume google has a priority list, and uses navteq or the other atlas whatever before osm data, if present. If not, use osm.

  7. Re:Now needs a better phone app by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not sure why anyone would contribute to Google maps. Who works for one of the world's largest corporations for free?