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I've just downloaded it and found three errors in roads near where I live already. One road had a completely wrong name. I have just fixed that. But if I've found 3 errors in my town in a few minutes and see the photos on the map zoom look to be about 10 years old, the city maps will be scary to try and take direction from. Maps need updating like google maps. I would not trust this navigation with these wrong maps. |
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Maps will always contain errors, whether they are official or "inofficial". It is the job of the local community to improve the map by adding/correcting all kind of details like street names, addresses, turn restrictions, speed limits and so on. You have already taken the first step by correcting the wrong street name. This map is build and updated by a community. The larger the local community the better the local map. You are obviously living in an area without or with only a few other local mappers. Try to improve the map around your hometown if you have the time, if you like the idea of a free and open map and if you want to be part of that community. A good map doesn't come out of nowhere. And the outdated imagery you are looking at probably comes from Bing. We are only allowed to use aerial imagery (and other data sources) for which we have the permissions to. While Bing has a really great coverage the images might be outdated in some areas. But Bing keeps updating them from time to time so you might see up-to-date imagery in your place eventually. Besides there are also other data sources like GPS, photos and your own knowledge. |
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No map is perfect. My city's map was in a similar state to yours about a year ago. Fortunately people have been improving it steadily, and I find it pretty reliable these days, except for the very newest suburbs, which are still unmapped. The best thing you can do is to focus on a little area that you know well, and try to make it as good as you can. Add missing streets or street names, businesses, parks, and other points of interest. Tell people about OpenStreetMap! Most people to whom I've talked about OSM get excited about it, and will contribute a little, even if it is just adding their favorite bar to the map. |
How can maps be improved to perfection? How can we trust a navigation that uses maps with errors, missing streets or streets marked with wrong names?
OSM is in some cases more up to date than others. I mapped new residential road and gave a friend the link so others could find her. In the past finding a new street/build could be a real problem. Other maps can, and I've heard do, use OSM to see what they have to update.
This is a Question and Answer site. What exactly is your question?
If you do not want to live with the weaknesses in OSM data quality, you are free to stay with google maps and live with their weaknesses in openness and contunuity (nobody can guarantee you that google doesn't begin to charge for their map service tomorrow. With OSM data you are positive that the data will remain free of charge and free as in speech). Or you can start improving OSM, as you have done. OSM is not The Best Map For Every Purpose(tm).
OSM will be The Best Map For Every Purpose(tm).