Track quality is far more depending on personal behavior than on technical devices. In narrow city streets, you get the best tracks when walking on the middle of the road. If a car forces you to jump onto the sidewalk, your whole track becomes weird. Are there any receivers who recognize such moves? Is there any receiver who logs all your moves, e.g. when playing soccer? If you know such a receiver, please let me know.

Yours, FK270673

After having collected some tracks, I would also like to share my experience:

i-Blue 747 is a cheap and good GPS receiver which can be carried in a rucksack.

Cycling creates the best tracks because you are sitting smoothly on the saddle. If you don't want to get tired by cycling up to the hill, a scooter would probably create the same track quality.

Walking creates less good tracks because every time you turn around, the GPS receiver jumps 20 meters away.

Within a bus, the GPS tracks are usually 20 metres away from the real site. However, there might be some places (e.g. driver's seat) where the signal is better.

Driving a car produces better results on WIDE roads, but you might get stuck in a NARROW road when two tractors want to pass your car. I have sometimes mapped narrow streets where I was able to pass ONLY with a bicycle.

Yours, FK270673

Einen kapitalen Anfängerfehler, den JEDER neuen Benutzer begeht, habe ich noch vergessen zu erwähnen:
Die Elisabethstraße ist noch nicht mit der Höttingstraße verbunden.

Mit etwas Übung lernt man irgendwann, die angrenzende Straße genau zu treffen.

Gruß FK270673

Hallo shortyx,

Deine Einträge sehen schon ganz ordentlich aus.

Es wäre jedoch sinnvoll, bei allen Straßen grundsätzlich auch die Oberfläche (surface) und die Höchstgeschwindigkeit (maxspeed) einzutragen. Kopfsteinpflaster (surface=cobblestone) ist beispielsweise nicht für Skater geeignet und für Radfahrer ebenfalls kein Vergnügen. Außerdem wäre es nett, wenn Du als Quelle source=GPS oder source=survey eintragen würdest. Das ist in Regionen ohne Datenspende und ohne Luftbild zwar selbstverständlich, aber es dokumentiert den persönlichen Einsatz. Außerdem vermisse ich noch ein paar Ampeln, die auf dem Knotenpunkt einer Kreuzung als zusätzliches Attribut platziert werden.

Das sind erstklassige Standards, die aber nicht von jedem Teilnehmer beachtet werden.

Eine Unterführung kannst du einzeichnen, indem Du das unterirdische Straßenstück mit layer=-1 oder tunnel=yes einzeichnest. Eine Brücke (bridge=yes und layer=1, bei besonders komplizierten Autobahnkreuzungen kann man auch layer=2 oder layer=3 verwenden) oder Unterführung hat natürlich keinen gemeinsamen Knotenpunkt mit der gekreuzten Straße.

Gruß FK270673

Openstreetmap is an approach to display a complex world on a flat map. Mappers have to assign a limited choice of symbols to a variety of real objects. This categorization cannot be done by a single man in a limited period of time (though I am sometimes dreaming of doing it).

So we have different levels of coordination requirement:
1. For technical reasons, symbols are used worldwide.
2. However, real objects have attributes which are depending on their natural, cultural and economic environment. It is useless to talk with African mappers about the difference between forest and wood, because in Africa there are not many maintained forests. So you have to discuss these topics with mappers of your cultural neighborhood (i.e. your country).
3. For historical and political reasons, some real objects don't fit standardized patterns.
4. Some users do not agree to standardization proposals and continue to use their personal favorites in their mapping area. If you haven't seen the real object before, it is difficult to decide whether the symbol is appropriate.
5. Some users have tried to propose standardized rules in different places (diary, forum, mailing list, wiki), but these proposals have been forgotten.

Of course, it would be useful to create a common unified standardization system. However, programming of a self-selecting editor takes a lot of time and needs some active programmers.

Yours FK270673

Hello Danny,

unfortunately you didn't write where you live. If you live in the United States, for example, you just need to fix existing roads.

If you live in an unmapped rural area, mapping will take more time.

There are several steps of mapping which can be done by different users:

1. Collecting tracks by walking, cycling and driving around.
2. Converting tracks from KML/NMEA to GPX
3. Uploading tracks to OSM server
4. Editing tracks by drawing a line from one edge of track to another edge
5. Adding information about this route (street name, max speed etc.)
6. Connecting routes and adding areas between these roads

Using other maps is dangerous because they might contain some errors. These errors can be used as proof for copying their maps. Please check carefully if there are errors on the city's map.

The most simple way to edit a map is Potlatch, the online editor. You just need to click the EDIT tab and Potlatch will automatically start on your browser.
Each edit with Potlatch will be saved forever.

osm.wiki/Potlatch/Primer

JOSM is an editor for advanced users.

osm.wiki/JOSM

If you are confused with all these possibilities, look here:

osm.wiki/Map_Features

If you have a particular configuration (Opera 2.x on BeOS 0.x), try another post on this diary.

Yours FK270673

Well, you can still reuse these sidewalk lines for residential areas by simply renaming them.

Finally, the footpath along Chicago River looks fantastic. There aren't many cities with such a great riverside walking opportunity.

osm.org/?lat=53.07527&lon=8.80142&zoom=17&layers=B000FTF

Your mapping makes Chicago attractive for visitors.

Yours, FK270673

Sorry, a public footpath is something different than a sidewalk. A footpath is a pedestrian shortcut which can be used by walkers, but not by cars. Urban planners intended these footpaths to encourage walking in urban areas.

Here is one example from Germany:
osm.org/?lat=53.23715&lon=8.79461&zoom=16&layers=B000FTF

And here are two examples from California:
osm.org/?lat=37.81909&lon=-122.23962&zoom=15&layers=B000FTF
osm.org/?lat=37.95082&lon=-121.98281&zoom=16&layers=B000FTF

There is still a controversy whether and how to map sidewalks.

Big roundabouts a drawn as separate circular street, together with junction=roundabout, small roundabouts are marked at the crossing point.

Yours FK270673

Farmland and farmyard are approved features since August 2008, but the Mapnik developers didn't update their renderer so far. Shame on them ;-)

FK270673

Parks are areas. Areas are created by drawing their boundaries which need to be connected as a closed loop.

Unfortunately the Potlatch Primer does not describe the creation of areas.

Best regards
FK270673

The tiger:review tag was intended to be marked as YES whereever an individual user has checked it. Traffic signals on Division St are looking great, just the intersection with Larrabee St is still missing. Many other intersections seem to be equipped with ordinary stop signs.

A oneway road without exit (Frontier St) seems to be a logical fallacy, so there must be another exit. Furthermore, there are many footways in this area. Are they accessible with a bike or with a wheelchair? Openstreetmap aims to find the shortest footway between two points, but especially in America many footways are still missing. Though this area doesn't look like a nice walking area, we appreciate each additional footway on the map.

Yours FK270673

Unfortunately you have forgotten to link this street with other streets. So let me explain how you can do this:

If two streets are crossing on the SAME level, you just need to select one street. While holding the SHIFT key down you can create a new point on this street. You can create a new node if this point exactly fits the crossing point.

It would be nice to show existing traffic lights on this intersection. You just need to click the crossing point and select the item "traffic lights".

If two streets have DIFFERENT levels you have to mark the upper street as bridge or the lower street as tunnel. Bridges and tunnels must not be connected to the lower level, of course.

Division St looks like a main street with TWO lanes so I have created two different streets for each direction. That makes it easier to calculate routing directions. Please check carefully if there are turning restrictions. If there are turning restrictions (NO LEFT TURN), we need to cut the connecting street in two parts.

Please check carefully if there are oneway restrictions and please change the tiger:review tag if you have updated a road with your local knowledge.

It's a lot of hard work to check the TIGER mess and I appreciate everyone who wants to participate. Don't hesitate to ask if you want to know more.

Yours FK270673

- How to distinguish between tertiary and unclassified roads (in Germany)?
-- Each country has its own definition for tertiary roads. In Germany, tertiary roads are called Kreisstraßen. There is a map showing all Kreisstraßen in Thuringia: http://www.thueringen.de/imperia/md/content/tlsb/service/strassennetzkarte/th200_2008.pdf
-- It's the easiest way to follow this official classification. There is a long discussion which other roads may be designated as tertiary roads if they are at least 4 Meters wide, e.g. former federal roads (Bundesstraßen).
- How to correctly tag the physical features of a road? tracktype/surface/smootheness?
-- Currently, surface is the most common tag.
- Is tracktype=* allowed for highway=residential, or only for highway=track?
-- Tracktype for residential roads is simply useless.
- If a road touches a parking area (I can drive from the road onto the parking area at any point) can the way be the boarder of the parking area and the road at the same time?
-- No problem.
- Does the noexit=yes tag belong to the last node of a way, or to the whole way?
-- It's a tag to facilitate routing. A routing service should avoid this way.

> I just have to say again, that I found more than one solution to these problems on the wiki pages. They are mostly mutual exclusive.
-- You are right. Some people are fighting for rules, some people are fighting for exceptions. They will show you a Kreisstraße with 4 or 6 lanes in Nordrhein-Westfalen to prove that a Kreisstraße cannot be tagged as tertiary.

> It's not in the spirit of OSM to tell people HOW to map and tag. Just to give them a way of sharing there data, I know. But a little more guidance would be very much appreciated. At least by me.
-- You are right. Standardizing rules is an exhausting job if everybody defends his personal exceptions.

Gruß aus Niedersachsen
FK270673

Dear timatio,

unfortunately your traces have no description, so we have to guess where they are. If you do not want to add a description (e.g. Mariazell, Austria), you may use "somewhere" as description tag.

Yours FK270673

Lieber Gorgonz,

Nürnberg und seine nähere Umgebung (von Bamberg bis Ingolstadt) gehört zu den Regionen, die man auch ohne GPS-Gerät bearbeiten kann. Luftbilder sind in den Häuserschluchten großer Städte wesentlich zuverlässiger als GPS-Tracks. Anhand der vorliegenden Luftbilder habe ich gerade die Martin-Treu-Straße verlängert. Jetzt kannst Du mit Edit überprüfen, ob diese Straße richtig eingezeichnet ist, und ggf. zusätzliche Eigenschaften (Einbahnstraße, Höchstgeschwindigkeit, Straßenbelag) ergänzen, indem Du auf das Pluszeichen klickst und key durch maxspeed, oneway oder surface ersetzt. Wundere Dich nicht, wenn der Editor relativ viel Zeit zum Laden der Daten benötigt, das war bei mir auch so.

Gruß FK270673

Handelt es sich vielleicht um die Rudolf-Müllauer-Straße? Es wäre schön, wenn deutschsprachige Straßennamen vollständig mit Bindestrich und Umlauten eingefügt werden. Glücklicherweise gibt es ja mittlerweile einen Bot, der Strassen automatisch in Straßen umbenennt.

Wir freuen uns auf viele schöne Straßen (mit Umlauten und ß)!

Gruß FK270673

Es ist sinnvoll, innerhalb eines Landes oder Staates liegende Wälder als eigenständiges Polygon einzuzeichnen, weil diese Wälder zu verschiedenen Forstämtern usw. gehören. Anderenfalls müsste man diese Wälder hinterher, sobald jemand die Forstamtszugehörigkeit einfügen möchte, aufwändig manuell trennen.

Gruß FK270673

Deine GPX-Tracks erscheinen im Potlatch-Editor bislang nur als dünne, blaue Linien. Einige Straßen sind bereits sichtbar, weil sie bereits von anderen eingezeichnet wurden, andere Wege fehlen noch. Irgendjemand (Du oder ein anderer) muss diese fehlenden Wege im Editor nachzeichnen und dann aufgrund seiner Ortskenntnis entscheiden, ob diese Linie eine Straße (road), ein Feldweg (track), ein Radweg (cycleway) oder ein Fußweg (footpath) ist. Unter der Karte erscheint jeweils ein kleines Bildchen (Auto, Mensch, Fahrrad, Schiff, Lok, Wald), rechts daneben erscheint der Straßentyp. Das Einzeichnen neuer Wege ist relativ leicht, die Verbindung mit bestehenden Knotenpunkten erfordert jedoch etwas Fingerspitzengefühl. Wenn die Knotenpunkte des verbundenen Weges blau leuchten, dann hast Du den Knotenpunkt genau getroffen.

Gruß FK270673

Hallo friesede,

jede Fläche sollte mindestens eine freie Kante haben, damit man sie hinterher noch mit Potlatch bearbeiten kann.

Flächenerstellung: In JOSM sucht der Editor automatisch die nächstgelegenen Eckpunkte einer Straße. Daraus ergibt sich die Linienüberschneidung ganz von alleine - Validatorwarnung hin oder her. Mit Potlatch kann und sollte man die Golfplatzgrenze knapp neben der Straße einzeichnen, damit Straße und Golfplatz hinterher noch bearbeitet werden können.

Gruß FK270673

Hallo rreinhardt,

mir ist aufgefallen, dass die Straßen in diesem Gebiet noch keine Namen haben.
Außerdem wäre es wünschenswert, wenn Höchstgeschwindigkeit (maxspeed=30) und Straßenzustand (surface) ebenfalls eingezeichnet werden. Spielstraßen werden mit (highway=living street) und (maxspeed=7) ausgezeichnet, falls es in diesem Gebiet welche gibt.

Es ist keine Pflicht, dass jeder GPS-Aufzeichner Straßennamen und Straßenzustand in der Karte verzeichnen muss, aber es wird gerne gesehen.

Ist das Gebäude an der Lüttringhauser Straße, das links auf dem Luftbild zu sehen ist, eine Tankstelle?
http://geo.topf.org/comparison/index.html?mt0=googlehybrid&mt1=tah&lon=7.2514218&lat=51.200215&z=17

Evtl. diese hier?
http://www.clever-tanken.de/showtank_payed.asp?Tankstelle=ARAL+L%FCttringhauser+Str.+86+Remscheid&secureid=1912&typ=&ort=428

Gruß FK270673, der lediglich den Stadtkern von Lennep kennt