[clug] Open Source Maps

[Andrew Loughhead]

Owen wrote:
>> Owen wrote:
>>> A couple of years ago I attended a CLUG talk at which the presenter
>>> had
>>> roamed the bike paths of Canberra with a GPS
> 
> 
>> Thats the URL for OpenstreetMap.  If you would like to contribute to
>> OSM
>> you just need to register on the website. You can then collect GPS
>> data,
>> convert it to GPX format with gpsbabel, and upload to OSM.
> 
> 
> Thank you Andrew,
> 
> My fellow cyclist has a brand new Garmin awaiting a bike mount and it
> out puts gpx so I have forwarded your email to him to see if he will
> take up the challenge.

If cycling is the emphasis, its worth mentioning that one of the OSM 
products is a "cycling map". See [1], for example. This is selected via 
the plus sign menu at the right of the map.  It adds some terrain 
information, and de-emphasises road data in preference to cycle lane and 
path data.  I think the contours are generated from freely available 
SRTM data, so while useful they won't have the accuracy  of a good large 
scale map sheet.

On a quick look at my own area it looks like there is some useful detail 
still to be added to OSM for cycling, such as some cycle paths, but also 
other relevant features like playing fields, and foot paths (especially 
some of the ones that form missing links to the cycle path network).  So 
there is plenty of OSM map making fun to still be had!

1. 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=-35.2478&lon=149.1666&zoom=13&layers=00B0FTF 


Andrew