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Hi all,

This might be a bit offtopic for this forum, but I'm trying to find a solution to an issue I haven't been able to solve. I want to walk each road (and probably each path) in my city, but I haven't found a good solution to let me track what I have accomplished. Does anyone have any suggestions for the best way to track which streets and paths I have walked? I don't need anything as specific as an exact GPS trace for this, but would like to be able to track this digitally so I can tick off whole streets and parts of streets as I move, then review for areas I have missed. I figure I can probably use data gathered while walking to improve OSM, so hope it's ok asking this here.

Apologies if this isn't the right forum, just figured if anyone is likely to have found a solution to this issue, it is likely someone here.

Cheers.

Rob.

asked 22 Sep '14, 02:40

Arnifix's gravatar image

Arnifix
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accept rate: 0%

edited 22 Sep '14, 02:41

2

Sounds like exactly the right forum to me...

(22 Sep '14, 08:31) SomeoneElse ♦

Just having a GPS or cellphone that has a GPS built it on while you walk each road can give you a GPX track. JOSM, and perhaps other OSM editors, can show your personal GPS tracks on a separate layer so you can see where you have walked. Keep your local GPX tracks in a folder and it is easy to open one or many of them after you've started JOSM.

If the GPS app on your smartphone is one setup for gathering data for OSM you can also collect geo-referenced notes and tags if you wish which might make your updating of OSM data easier.

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answered 22 Sep '14, 03:31

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n76
10.8k1082172
accept rate: 17%

If it helps, here's what I do:

  1. Use a handheld GPS to record GPS tracks, and also store waypoints (essentially a numbered marker at a particular location)
  2. On a mobile phone, create an email containing notes to go with each numbered marker (for example for a supermarket I might write down the name and other useful information)
  3. When I get back, combine the GPX XML with the list of notes that I've emailed to myself
  4. Upload the resulting tracks to OSM
  5. In $osm-editor-of-choice, use the information in the waypoints to edit the map

Instead of a handheld GPS it'd be perfectly possible to create traces on the phone directly (though battery life might be an issue if you're out all day). In urban areas individual GPS traces may be less useful due to problems with overhanging buildings, but having the device still know where you are is still useful as it enables you (with a Garmin eTrex, and I'm sure with other devices too) to mark nearby places with waypoints and capture more information.

I use this to combine GPX traces with notes - I map a lot of footpaths and also use it to keep track of places that I've seen an unmapped footpath start for later reference. If you just want to combine external information into a GPX file I suspect that there would be easier ways, though.

I use Potlatch 2 as an editor most of the time because historically it has has better out-of-the-box support for waypoints in GPX files than JOSM (though you might be able to do something with MapCSS in JOSM these days).

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answered 22 Sep '14, 21:56

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SomeoneElse ♦
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accept rate: 16%

Hi in addition to stf 's remarks, take a look here to get some hints, http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Using_OpenStreetMap I would go for JOSM since it allows you to select (double click) a gpx file with points or a trace (current at Garmin) and gives a suggestion about the area for a download. And yes you’ll have to install JOSM or use Potlach2 or ID (quit friendly for a mobile) instead without a download. Enjoy. PS try to select those roads that are n't on the OSM map or incorrect.

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answered 22 Sep '14, 09:44

Hendrikklaas's gravatar image

Hendrikklaas
9.3k207238387
accept rate: 5%

edited 22 Sep '14, 10:45

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question asked: 22 Sep '14, 02:40

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last updated: 22 Sep '14, 21:56

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum