Large-Scale Generation of Transit Maps from OpenStreetMap Data

The article discusses the automated generation of transit maps using OpenStreetMap (OSM) data, focusing on creating both geographically accurate and schematic overlays for global transit networks. The authors, Patrick Brosi and Hannah Bast from the University of Freiburg, outline a multi-step pipeline that begins with extracting transit line geometries from OSM using SPARQL queries. This data is then used to construct a global line network graph, which is rendered into transit maps. The maps are delivered as vector tiles for use in interactive web applications, allowing users to download individual network graphs in a proposed GeoJSON format. The study emphasizes the scalability of their approach and the potential for future research to enhance individual components of the pipeline. The authors also evaluate the performance and quality of their method, acknowledging existing challenges in obtaining clean network data and ensuring comparability across different mapping approaches. The work aims to demonstrate the feasibility of fully automated global transit map generation and to provide open-source tools for further development in this area.

- The study presents a pipeline for generating global transit maps from OpenStreetMap data.

- It utilizes SPARQL queries to extract transit line geometries and constructs a global line network graph.

- The resulting maps are available as vector tiles and can be downloaded in GeoJSON format.

- The authors evaluate the scalability and performance of their approach while addressing existing challenges.

- The tools developed are open-source, promoting further research and development in automated map generation.