OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
Bus Stops
There’s lots of data stored in OSM about bus stops, but often maps and apps created with OSM data don’t make much use of it (with OsmAnd being the notable exception). For here’s a bus stop as shown by OSM Carto:
♦
You can see that it’s a bus stop, and you’d be able to see the name if you could zoom in a bit more. However, in OSM there’s actually lots more information. For the
There’s lots of data stored in OSM about bus stops, but often maps and apps created with OSM data don’t make much use of it (with OsmAnd being the notable exception). For here’s a bus stop as shown by OSM Carto:
You can see that it’s a bus stop, and you’d be able to see the name if you could zoom in a bit more. However, in OSM there’s actually lots more information. For the map styles that I look after (both web-based raster maps and for Garmin devices) I tried to add a bit more detail. Here’s the result:
The bus stop icon has several extra elements that can be varied. The main part is the bus - still present but disused stops get a black “x” instead. Most bus stops have a pole. and that is shown to the right. The “r” indicates that there’s some sort of real-time display at the stop and the “s” that there’s a button that people can press to hear an announcement saying when the next buses are due. A “t” is shown if there’s just a timetable. The stop name itself is composed of several components - the name
field itself, and also if set ref
and naptan:Indicator
, often “opp” or “adj” in the UK.
A feature of bus stops in my local area is that most also have a QR code of the form http://deps.at/?32900012
, which redirects to a website for that stop that shows the same information as on real-time displays. The parameter is the naptan:NaptanCode. Unfortunately this doesn’t work for all stops, so I’ve manually added the website
locally only where it actually works. The website is shown on the stop when you zoom in.
The full variety of symbols can be seen in the legend here. Zoom in to see larger icons.
Several tags are used to decide whether a bus stop pole is likely to be there or not, and I’ve used "physically_present=yes
is used on disused bus stops to indicate that a pole exists but they’re not in use. Some in my local area are signed as not in use, but the majority are not - the only indication is uaully the lack of a timetable.
Newer buses locally do have displayed and spoken announcements of stop names on board, but sometimes the name on the stop, the name displayed on the bus and the name announced on the bus are all different - see for example here and here. I’ve used bus_display_name
and bus_speech_output_name
where these differ. I made those last two names up; I couldn’t see anything at taginfo and a mailing list post didn’t generate any other suggestions. If either of the other names isn’t contained within the main one, I’ve appended them to the end, like this:
Of course, if someone can suggest a better tag for these names I’m all ears (but not alt_name
or some semicolon=separated monstrosity as neither of those would explain which name is which).
Maps for Garmin are similar, except that relevant information is appended to the name directly. Also note that a number of Garmin devices such as older Garmin Nuvi satnavs (and presumably newer Garmin drive ones) support speech output directly.
There’s lots of data stored in OSM about bus stops, but often maps and apps created with OSM data don’t make much use of it (with OsmAnd being the notable exception). For here’s a bus stop as shown by OSM Carto:
♦
You can see that it’s a bus stop, and you’d be able to see the name if you could zoom in a bit more. However, in OSM there’s actually lots more information. For the
There’s lots of data stored in OSM about bus stops, but often maps and apps created with OSM data don’t make much use of it (with OsmAnd being the notable exception). For here’s a bus stop as shown by OSM Carto:
You can see that it’s a bus stop, and you’d be able to see the name if you could zoom in a bit more. However, in OSM there’s actually lots more information. For the map styles that I look after (both web-based raster maps and for Garmin devices) I tried to add a bit more detail. Here’s the result:
The bus stop icon has several extra elements that can be varied. The main part is the bus - still present but disused stops get a black “x” instead. Most bus stops have a pole. and that is shown to the right. The “r” indicates that there’s some sort of real-time display at the stop and the “s” that there’s a button that people can press to hear an announcement saying when the next buses are due. A “t” is shown if there’s just a timetable. The stop name itself is composed of several components - the name
field itself, and also if set ref
and naptan:Indicator
, often “opp” or “adj” in the UK.
A feature of bus stops in my local area is that most also have a QR code of the form http://deps.at/?32900012
, which redirects to a website for that stop that shows the same information as on real-time displays. The parameter is the naptan:NaptanCode. Unfortunately this doesn’t work for all stops, so I’ve manually added the website
locally only where it actually works. The website is shown on the stop when you zoom in.
The full variety of symbols can be seen in the legend here. Zoom in to see larger icons.
Several tags are used to decide whether a bus stop pole is likely to be there or not, and I’ve used "physically_present=yes
is used on disused bus stops to indicate that a pole exists but they’re not in use. Some in my local area are signed as not in use, but the majority are not - the only indication is uaully the lack of a timetable.
Newer buses locally do have displayed and spoken announcements of stop names on board, but sometimes the name on the stop, the name displayed on the bus and the name announced on the bus are all different - see for example here and here. I’ve used bus_display_name
and bus_speech_output_name
where these differ. I made those last two names up; I couldn’t see anything at taginfo and a mailing list post didn’t generate any other suggestions. If either of the other names isn’t contained within the main one, I’ve appended them to the end, like this:
Of course, if someone can suggest a better tag for these names I’m all ears (but not alt_name
or some semicolon=separated monstrosity as neither of those would explain which name is which).
Maps for Garmin are similar, except that relevant information is appended to the name directly. Also note that a number of Garmin devices such as older Garmin Nuvi satnavs (and presumably newer Garmin drive ones) support speech output directly.