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

I have recently found out that the transit authority in my area publishes transit information for download for app developers. This includes various transit stops (mostly bus and light rail), including longitude, latitude, stop IDs, stop names, and bus routes that visit each route. I'd like to be able to add these to OSM, but there's one big problem: there are just under 7000 points to add, and as far as I can find they don't publish in a format that I could import into OSM without some sort of conversion of database formats.

Given that one of the database files provided by the transit authority can be opened as a spreadsheet that I can view/edit from OpenOffice/LibreOffice Calc, would there be a simple way of importing these into OSM (from Linux)? I wouldn't mind doing a little work if it means making sure I don't accidentally corrupt the OSM database, but adding nearly 7000 points to the map would be much too tedious for one person.

(for those interested, the data is at http://www.portauthority.org/generaltransitfeed/GIS/ , they pack several database formats in the zip files)

asked 13 Mar '15, 22:57

ItchyDemon's gravatar image

ItchyDemon
41113
accept rate: 0%

edited 13 Mar '15, 22:59

Note that there are already a number of bus stops in the area already:

http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/8bg

(not 7000, but some).

(14 Mar '15, 00:09) SomeoneElse ♦
1

Sure, and I'm responsible for a few of them being on the map :-)

I figure the number of bus stops on the map are problem not more than a few hundred, and compared to nearly 7000 it would probably be easier to seek out and merge/remove duplicates than add a few thousand individually.

(14 Mar '15, 00:13) ItchyDemon

Sorry for the typo -- I meant "probably not more than".

(14 Mar '15, 00:23) ItchyDemon

Sorry, the licence for that data does not seem compatible with OSM's licence. IANAL and I did not read through everything, but at least paragraphs 2, 4, and 6 seem clearly incompatible with OSM/ODBL. As it stands, you cannot import this data into OSM.

However, it is certainly worth it to contact the owner of the data to see if they are willing to either relicense their data in an odbl-compatible way, or to grant an official, writen exception for OSM to import the data. Alert them to the fact that providing "open" data that can only be used in very restricted circumstances is rather pointless. How easy they are to convince depends on your luck, but sending a few emails is worth it.

permanent link

answered 15 Mar '15, 21:10

Vincent%20de%20Phily's gravatar image

Vincent de P... ♦
17.3k18152249
accept rate: 19%

4

Way ahead of you on that -- after reading the wiki link from the answer above yours (which mentions the license thing), I when searching through their site and found their license. I've already submitted a message through their feedback form suggesting that they add their stops themselves. If they don't respond within the next week or two, I'll probably send them a letter asking them to either add the stops or grant me permission to do so.

(15 Mar '15, 21:23) ItchyDemon
1

Good :) Just wanted to make sure the license issue was known, in case you had just skimed over the guidelines but figured out the technical part anyway.

(15 Mar '15, 21:52) Vincent de P... ♦
1

IANAL, but since the Port Authority's a government agency, http://www.rcfp.org/pennsylvania-open-government-guide/i-statute-basic-application/b-whose-records-are-and-are-not-subje seems to suggest that their license doesn't comply with state law.

(16 Mar '15, 16:34) Baloo Uriza

Hi ItchyDemon, before answering your question, please read these lines and follow the import rules accordingly, http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Import/Guidelines.

permanent link

answered 13 Mar '15, 23:23

Hendrikklaas's gravatar image

Hendrikklaas
9.3k207238387
accept rate: 5%

edited 14 Mar '15, 00:04

SomeoneElse's gravatar image

SomeoneElse ♦
36.9k71370866

Um, there's a big problem with that... The link you provide gives the following messages from the OSM wiki:

There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs, but you do not have permission to create this page.

(13 Mar '15, 23:53) ItchyDemon
5

For info - I fixed the broken link in the answer above.

(14 Mar '15, 00:05) SomeoneElse ♦

Follow this question

By Email:

Once you sign in you will be able to subscribe for any updates here

By RSS:

Answers

Answers and Comments

Markdown Basics

  • *italic* or _italic_
  • **bold** or __bold__
  • link:[text](http://url.com/ "title")
  • image?![alt text](/path/img.jpg "title")
  • numbered list: 1. Foo 2. Bar
  • to add a line break simply add two spaces to where you would like the new line to be.
  • basic HTML tags are also supported

Question tags:

×352
×62
×11

question asked: 13 Mar '15, 22:57

question was seen: 3,991 times

last updated: 16 Mar '15, 16:34

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