Bicycle Directions not using recently entered bike path

I recently added a portion of a bike trail in Florissant, MO to OpenStreetMap. When I query for bicycle directions it does not utilize the bike path. What might I have done wrong?

directions API query: http://open.mapquestapi.com/directions/v1/route?outFormat=json&shapeFormat=raw&generalize=10&from=38.820426%2C-90.336433&unit=m&locale=en_US&enhancedNarrative=false&to=38.790915%2C-90.321824&routeType=bicycle

I would expect the directions to use the sunset trail as seen on the map here: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?box=yes&bbox=-90.36306%2C38.78717%2C-90.31781%2C38.83089

asked 06 Mar '13, 02:50

JARinteractive
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accept rate: 0%

edited 06 Mar '13, 11:00

gormo
2.9k●3●26●60

I can get mapquest to use the sunset trail, see http://mapq.st/YcfYma .

Maybe you also have to set advanced routing options for bicycles, as seen on their website ("Favour routes usings trails&paths").

Don't know if they are exposed thru the API, though.

(06 Mar '13, 10:59) gormo

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I dont know the mapquest routing but I would guess that the routing routines are not so clever that they always choose the cycleway. Most bicycle routers will not choose that trail because it is twisting and turning and all other roads are straighter and shorter and not forbidden to cycle on (at least that is the way it is mapped there), they will always choose the fastest or shortest route to your destination.

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answered 06 Mar '13, 08:19

ligfietser
2.9k●5●27●57
accept rate: 11%

routeType=bicycle is supposed to prefer bike paths. I also tried adjusting the cyclingRoadFactor parameter and still could not get the API to return a path using the bike route. It seems like there must be something wrong with how I plotted the route.

(07 Mar '13, 01:26) JARinteractive

No, the route is fine, as far as i can see (see http://mapq.st/YcfYma ). Probably mapquest does not expose all the routing options through the free api.

(07 Mar '13, 08:06) gormo

MapQuest doesn't even show any of the path that I entered at this point. There was a small portion of the trail already in OSM, which is what is seen in your MapQuest link.

(07 Mar '13, 14:00) JARinteractive

Maybe you should have pointed us to the actual way IDs you are talking about.

(07 Mar '13, 14:57) scai ♦

If MapQuest Open only routes along the earlier added Sunset Trail part but not along the recently added one than maybe their routing data still hasn't been updated. I can't find any information about the date of their routing data so I suggest to wait a few more weeks or try to contact them directly. MapQuest is a commercial company and we don't know very much about their internals.

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answered 07 Mar '13, 15:36

scai ♦
33.3k●21●309●459
accept rate: 23%

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question asked: 06 Mar '13, 02:50

question was seen: 7,957 times

last updated: 07 Mar '13, 15:36

Bicycle Directions not using recently entered bike path

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