Detecting missing ways in OSM from Strava heat maps
Posted by jcr83 on 5 December 2023 in English. Last updated on 7 January 2024.Introduction
Many paths, tracks and even small streets are missing from OSM. And yet, these paths are often used by Strava users, who upload their traces there. So I thought it would be interesting to use these data to improve OSM.
That’s why I wrote a Python program which, by analyzing Strava data, is able to detect missing paths in OSM, then generate files to create MapRoulette challenges so that each missing path can be added to OSM.
What is Strava?
According to Wikipedia, Strava is a website and mobile application used to record sports activities via GPS. Its members use devices such as a GPS watch or smartphone to record their running activities, and send these to Strava. Currently (2023), there are over 100 million members.
Strava heat maps
On its website, Strava publishes a heat map showing the aggregation of all its users’ tracks.
Example:
The more a route is ridden, the brighter its track appears on the heatmap.