Bus stop collector

The ridiculously simple mobile app

for bus stop mapping in OpenStreetMap

project code name

by @overflorian

21 oct 2016 - OpenStreetMap France

We are in 2016 and bus stops in OpenStreetMap are still WRONG.

 

Let's fix that.

Current status

• Bus stops quality in OSM is very heterogeneous: from very bad to excellent (e.g. Managua, Nicaragua)
• Transportation Open Data often sucks
• Current editing tools are desktop and/or difficult to use

Why we need an app

• Accurate knowledge is on site. It really is!
• People have time to map while taking the bus
• We need to growth our community. The only way to achieve that is to provide simple tools

The app we need

• OpenStreetMap contribution on the fly
• Ridiculously simple: my mother must love it
• Open Source code
• Multilingual by design

Minimum viable product

Beta version

• Android app:
  • Transport map as a main screen
  • Create / move / delete bus stops
  • Edit basic bus stops details: name, direction, bus line(s)
  • Select a bus line for an overview

App version 1

It is the beta version with some more features:

• Contribute with your OSM account
• Offline edit possible
• Worldwide coverage
• Edit bus line road sections
• Tutorial to guide beginners
• QA tool : highlight possibly missing bus stops

Possible future evolutions

• Edit extra bus stops details: shelter, bench, wheelchair accessibility...
• Bus operators and network management
• Create / delete a bus line and edit its details: terminus, name, color...
• Manage stop position on the road
• Photo and GPS trace collection
• ...
• App available on other plateforms: iOS, web...

Overall goal

A game changing tool for transportation's crowdsourcing, created by the community for the community with a simple goal:

100% of Paris's region bus stops up-to-date in OpenStreetMap in 18 months

Help the project

This project is just a simple draft for now, October 2016, and I'd love to hear your feedback before going further.

I am Florian Lainez, a digital marketing officer that worked in a transportation company. I am also an active member of the french OSM community.

@overflorian

florian@lainez.fr

        overflorian

Extra resources

• A simple bus stop editor https://www.cartes.xyz/t/04e491-Arrets_de_bus__Florian#
• Technical description of a bus stop in OSM https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/FR:Tag:highway%3Dbus_stop
• A bus stop viewer for OSM http://overpass-api.de/public_transport.html
• A transport line editor http://makinacorpus.github.io/osm-transport-editor
• OSM bus mapping project in Managua, Nicaragua http://support.mapanica.net
• Digital Matatus http://www.digitalmatatus.com/about.html