There has been a recent surge of interest in mapping walking infrastructure in Melbourne. This is very exciting because many parts have been lacking for a long time.

I have been adding some things piecemeal over the years. Recently I have made a more concerted effort to get footpath and crossing data into the Map. Several other users have been doing a huge amount to make this happen.

Here I wanted to briefly share a summary of my approach to mapping these footpaths and crossings. As is custom for OSM, this is not prescriptive at all; just a description of how I am approaching this task. It is based on consistency of edits and consistency with existing and new data.

Footpaths

highway=footway
footway=sidewalk

I am also including the surface where known. Most footpaths are built of concrete, especially in older suburbs. The next most common would be asphalt, but there are still some unpaved footpaths - even in built-up areas. I think this is important to include for accessibility and route planning.

surface=concrete

One important aspect here is that I am mapping footpath ways separately to the crossing ways. Which brings us to…

Crossings

highway=crossing
crossing=*
crossing:island=*
crossing:markings=*

Here is an example of a simple T-intersection that shows my general approach to mapping ways for footpaths and crossings separately.

… See full entry

Have now completed the route 70 stop attributes.

Along the way, I was able to update the new accessible stop between Exhibition & Russell Street on Flinders Street. It’s an interesting stop and relatively well-designed, but suffers from one main problem - pedestrian access. For some reason, passengers can only access the stop at the Flinders/Russell St intersection or from pedestrian signals at the east end of the platform that lead onto the southern footpath.

If you are on the northern side of Flinders Street (much more likely given the presence of buildings) and want to catch an outbound tram, you have to walk the equivalent of about one and a half city blocks to walk all the way down to Russell Street and walk the entire length of the platform. It seems like a silly thing to do - at the very least the pedestrian signals should be for the entire width of the road and at best they should be pedestrian-priority zebra crossings.

So after that little rant, I’ve now started on the north-south routes, beginning with the route 1 (East Coburg - South Melbourne). It’s run out of Brunswick Depot with Z3 and B2-class trams and is one of the most iconic routes of Melbourne.

In progress

• Route 1

Complete

• Route 16
• Route 48
• Route 70
• Route 72
• Route 75
• Route 109

Finally completed tagging stops along route 75 which is the longest route I have done so far. Hopefully it get easier as stops begin doubling up and major tram corridors are completed.

I’m consistently surprised at the comparatively low quality of data around tram stops in Melbourne’s CBD. One of the main stops in Melbourne, at Flinders/Swanston Streets, wasn’t tagged at all. Another problem was somebody had incorrectly tagged a stretch of seemingly random stops in Hawthorn East as wheelchair accessible when in fact that are not.

Route 70 is next in line to have its stops tagged. This is a particularly special route for Melbourne’s tram network as it passes by Wattle Park where the Melbourne Tramways Band has performed for over a century. This route was also significantly altered in the late 1990s with the completion of the Exhibition Street Extension and its subsequent re-routing around Swan Street. It also serves Melbourne and Olympic Park patrons, perhaps most notably the Australian Open where route 70a trams shuttle between Spencer Street and the event.

In progress

• Route 70

Complete

• Route 16
• Route 48
• Route 72
• Route 75
• Route 109

Finished the route 72 today, took me through some beautiful tree-lined streets of Prahran and Hawkesburn.

Some of the stops around Gardiner Station are quite strange, but this will change soon with the level crossing removal at Burke Road.

I’m now starting on the route 75, which interestingly enough has stop 75 as its terminus in Vermont South. It is also the longest tram route in Melbourne and the third-longest in the world.

In progress

• Route 75

Complete

• Route 16
• Route 48
• Route 72
• Route 109

I have been making some good progress to date in my tram stop tagging adventure. Three tram routes have been completed (109, 48 and 16) and a fourth (72) has been started.

Doing the route 16 (Kew - Melbourne University) was an interesting experience. Despite living relatively near the Kew terminus, I had never taken the tram down towards St Kilda. I was surprised when adding stop tags at its convoluted (and incredibly long) route.

This strange route is a relic of history. The present-day route 16 is an amalgamation of two old tram routes: the old route 16 and route 69. The 69 ran from the present Kew terminus to Luna Park in St Kilda, while the old route 16 ran from Melbourne University to St Kilda Junction (Acland St) via St Kilda Road.

In any case, I managed to cover all stops along the route, although again I was surprised at some of the errors and omissions along the route. Some stops, even in the middle of the CBD, were missing from the map entirely (e.g. the Swanston/Bourke stops), while some were just in the wrong place (e.g. Havelock St, St Kilda).

In progress

• Route 72

Complete

• Route 16
• Route 109
• Route 48

Following up on the suggestions from the first post, I’ve had a look at the PTV website and datasets.

While it does contain a lot of useful information, it doesn’t include things like shop awnings, which often provide informal but useful shelter at many tram stops. It also doesn’t include a lot of local council infrastructure, such as benches, which are not owned or controlled by the state government and are not included in that data.

In any case, it makes the project more interesting if it requires fieldtrips :) Combining this with my own local knowledge (and hopefully that of others too who are willing to contribute), it is not that arduous a task. If anything, it is very eye-opening as to how poorly serviced many tram stops are, especially for those in wheelchairs.

In progress

• Route 16

Complete

• Route 109
• Route 48

Being a relative newcomer to OSM, I was surprised to find little data on Melbourne’s tram stops. With the largest tram network in the world and over 1,760 stops on the network, it is a large project to complete.

With my local knowledge and some field trips, my aim is to input as much information as possible for each stop using tags. I have completed all of the route 48 stops as a sort of pilot, and many other routes will overlap.

I am particularly concentrating on the following attributes:

• Accessibility
• Shelter
• Seating

Any other attributes will be added as needed. I will record each route as I complete it, in no particular order.

Hopefully I can cover all 1,763 stops soon!

In progress

• Route 109

Completed

• Route 48