Start Mapping

Overview

Mapping pedestrian data according to the OpenSidewalks standard involves adding map elements with the right metadata (described in the schema below) and connecting them to one another following a simple set of rules.

By following these rules and adding data to OpenStreetMap, your area of interest can be populated with OpenSidewalks-compatible data and be used to create pedestrian maps and analyses.

Schema

The OpenSidewalks data schema defines an in-development specification for the mapping and use of pedestrian network data. It is intended to be a flexible format that can be populated from many different data sources, including OpenStreetMap, from which it is heavily inspired. Mapping pedestrian paths in OpenStreetMap using the rules of the OpenSidewalks standard (with a few caveats) will generate OpenSidewalks-compatible data.

OpenSidewalks also organizes ongoing efforts to propose changes to OpenStreetMap tagging schemas that could use improvement to be useful for describing pedestrian paths consistently and unambiguously.

Tutorial

This section will be turned into a full-fledged tutorial soon, but in the meantime please refer to our PDF on mapping OpenSidewalks data in OpenStreetMap.