This diary explores the problems with the OSM Wiki entry for service=driveway, and why is there a need for service=driveway2. In the process, it also describes the headaches encountered while trying find a optimal solution. However, deeply entrenched opinions makes this process untenable.

Need for clear indication of classified service way type

The topic of discussion will need to begin on how OSM tags are designed in an hierarchy, which begins with initial key-value pair of highway=service, followed by classifier tags service=driveway or service=parking_aisle. Note that highway=service without any service=* does not tell the data consumer if this is simply a minor way that is un-classified (not yet assigned a classification type such as parking_aisle or alley or driveway), or if this minor way is an implicit driveway. In general, a data consumer will assume that the way is un-classified, instead of assuming that it is an implicit driveway.

The classifier issue is the first issue present in the service=driveway Wiki entry - that suggests that minor ways linking from major roads to parking_aisles should be tagged as an implicit driveway with no classifier tags.

• This means that data consumers are unable to determine if the way segment is un-classified, or if it is indeed an implicit driveway when such minor service way connected to parking_aisles are encountered..
• Similarly, a user whom just want to quickly add minor service roads but does not perform classification will mean that data consumers cannot identify if such ways are classified or un-classified, and therefore prevents accurate assessment if further classification is required.

Definition of driveway

… See full entry

Discovery of relations is important, and thus a good starting point will be to have most the the public transport route relations properly linked to one another. As part of the editing of east coast public transportation networks, I have indexed most of the available routes that are available in New Jersey and in New York City.

Browse through the routes and see if you can help out by adding more routes to this list! East Coast Public Transport Route Index

One of my side projects for OpenStreetMap mapping is the mapping of public transport routes in the New York region. This consists of New York City Subways (Map), Manhattan Bus Routes (Map), several Queens Bus Routes (Map) and Staten Island Bus Routes (Map). You can now view most local bus routes on the transport map and quickly locate nearby routes without navigation the maze of most local transit authorities websites.

I must also congratulate Xoan Manuel on his work on most of the Queens Bus Routes and Brooklyn Bus Routes (See Map).

The remaining items on the lists are several cross-town services, Bronx services and transportation on the New Jersey side. On a side note, an alternative rendering of the public transport map can be found at OpenPTMap, where subway lines are also rendered properly.

Potlatch 2 is a very good online tool, but it doesn’t come close to the features provided by a offline editor like Java OpenStreetMap (JOSM). With JOSM, one can more efficiently map buildings and houses with the following tools and plugins.

The plugins you will need…

• building_tools >v28412, for quickly drawing rectangular buildings
• piclayer >v27883, for overlaying images with 3 control points to use as reference image for mapping
• terracer >v28412, for quickly assigning house numbers and creating linked side-by-side houses (especially for areas such as Chinatown where old shophouses uses house numbers)

The quick way to map buildings

• Control+B to access rectangular building drawings, draw with 2 clicks
• Control+J to join these rectangular polygons (shift-click/ctrl-click to select multiple) into a single shape (with multi-polygon holes)
• Shift+T to quickly subdivide your main polygon into multiple labeled houses (useful for traditional chinese shophouses)

Hopefully this can speed up mapping for you!

Given the usefulness that OSM provides, especially in new applications utilising OSM as a data source, the lack of detail in southern Singapore is almost unfathomable. Over the past week I have added a suitable amount of POIs to southern Singapore covering the following locations, filling out holes missing by the previous coverage.

• City areas/CBD areas - Outram, Tanjong Pagar, Raffles Place, Bugis and the Gardens by the Bay
• Southern housing - Bukit Merah, Redhill, Telok Blangah and generally areas bounded by Alexandra Road
• Some other key areas - Novena, Kallang Stadium
• Area blocking key institutions so that the name of the institutes can be seen easier when zoomed out, such as Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, SMU
• Added details to many schools and area blocking them
• Added placemarkers to the new towns of Singapore for easier visual identification of key areas

I hope this can contribute significantly to your experience in using OSM derivatives in Singapore and makes it easier and better for others to improve on this area.