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It will be a while before the USA converts to km; so how can I get distance in miles displayed in the "find directions between two points" window at osm.org

asked 19 Sep '16, 21:43

Alan01730's gravatar image

Alan01730
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accept rate: 0%

closed 31 Mar '23, 17:55

SimonPoole's gravatar image

SimonPoole ♦
44.7k13326701

Sure, with that attitude... just using metric anyway will help get America on board.

(10 Jul '17, 08:08) Baloo Uriza

The question has been closed for the following reason "Other The question was answered" by SimonPoole 31 Mar '23, 17:55


Sorry, but cannot change that. I tried one of the underlying websites directly, (http://map.project-osrm.org/ ) because sometimes they offer more options via their own website. But even there seems not possible to use miles. But https://graphhopper.com/maps makes it possible.

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answered 20 Sep '16, 04:25

escada's gravatar image

escada
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accept rate: 21%

2

Their old website used to have the option - see https://github.com/Project-OSRM/osrm-frontend/issues/28 and http://routed.sourceforge.net - might be worth opening a new github ticket to get the option perhaps reinstated at the project-osrm site.

(20 Sep '16, 09:04) EdLoach ♦
-3

This is ridiculous. Half of Britain still uses miles for driving. I'm having to use Googlemaps for directions because I have no idea what the distances OSM gives me mean.

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answered 10 Jul '17, 01:22

Deke42's gravatar image

Deke42
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so why don't you use Graphhopper ? Or any of the mobile apps ? AFAIK the main purpose of the routing on osm.org is to allow mappers to check the road network

(10 Jul '17, 04:06) escada

You're saying OSM was never meant for me in the first place? Well who is it for then?

(10 Jul '17, 16:45) Deke42
6

OSM (the data) is meant for everyone - osm.org (the website) is very much targetted at mappers - it's not designed to be an end-user web portal. There are end-user web portals (and apps) that use OSM data; Mapquest is one obvious example.

(10 Jul '17, 17:42) SomeoneElse ♦
2

It should be noted that if you provide a patch/pull request for the functionality in question there's a far better chance of mile support happening.

(10 Jul '17, 21:29) SimonPoole ♦
3

Or just an issue filed in the right place. I wrote the original routing UI and could perhaps be amenable to looking at it again to add support for miles, but not with offensive language like "this is ridiculous".

(12 Jul '17, 11:46) Richard ♦
1

You find 'This is ridiculous' offensive? Now that IS ridiculous. You are definitely way out of place on the internet and definitely should not be mixing with degenerate proles like me. For your sake I shall go back to Google maps and all the paraphernalia that I have to use to prevent them from stealing my soul.

No, don't thank me, happy to do it.

(13 Jul '17, 00:18) Deke42
3

How ridiculous.

(13 Jul '17, 09:00) scai ♦
2

@Deke42, yes OSM is for you, but perhaps http://www.openstreetmap.org not. Grapphopper and the mobile apps that I mention in my above answers are using OSM data. OpenStreetMap is much more than just 1 website.

(13 Jul '17, 12:19) escada
showing 5 of 8 show 3 more comments
-3

I love the metric system. As an engineer, I'll convert to metric, solve the problem, and convert back to old fashioned imperial units. However, I agree with Deke42 and scai. It's ridiculous that openstreetmap.org forces people to use km. The data uses LAT/LON and is distance unit agnostic. Forcing people to use km is arrogant. I'd never think of developing mapping software that didn't allow users to choose their units of choice.

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answered 31 Dec '20, 20:03

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BruceLayne
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2

Have you actually read (and understood) the other answers before starting a rant here?

(01 Jan '21, 20:07) TZorn
-3

I agree with BruceLayne, the engineer who commented above. Metric is a better system, but the site should allow people to choose in which format to display distances. If it's true as another poster reports that the site used to have this functionality, eliminating it (if this was done deliberately) does seem arrogant and like a disservice to users.

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answered 31 Mar '23, 17:51

StarchildSF's gravatar image

StarchildSF
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1

This not a discussion forum.

(31 Mar '23, 17:55) SimonPoole ♦
1

This is essentially a question-and-answer site. It has a very fixed format of questions, answers, and comments.

If you want to discuss something, I'd suggest heading over to community.osm.org and raising it there.

(31 Mar '23, 18:02) SomeoneElse ♦

I think I might bookmark this page as a textbook example of "how not to get volunteers to implement your desired feature".

(01 Apr '23, 08:13) Richard ♦

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question asked: 19 Sep '16, 21:43

question was seen: 10,099 times

last updated: 01 Apr '23, 08:13

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