A quarter of the way into 2016, have we reach the end of our little New Year’s Resolutions series? I think so, but for the die hard resolutionists, I have one last post to inspire some edits.
It’s time to count your pennies! Saving money is also a very popular New Year’s resolution. If this was your top goal at the start of 2016, we hope you are on track. If you are just now remembering that you declared this resolution, you may need some inspiration. Start with adding the banks in your neighborhood and around your place of work. Banks are either loved or loathed, depending on fees and customer service. That leads to some very strong opinions which contain the requisite local knowledge for editing OpenStreetMap. Whether you love a bank or hate it, you definitely know where it is located!
Business listings and other points of interest are slowly gaining momentum in OpenStreetMap. Curious to know how prevalent banks are in OpenStreetmap? Check out this table which includes our New Year’s Resolutions cities, summarizing banks with addresses, websites, and hours:
| Banks | with Addresses | with Website | with Hours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland | 214 | 5% | 0% | 0% |
| Dublin | 204 | 22% | 11% | 6% |
| Hong Kong | 536 | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Melbourne | 416 | 18% | 56% | 5% |
| Mexico City | 323 | 6% | 1% | 5% |
| Mumbai | 251 | 7% | 1% | 5% |
| San Francisco | 436 | 39% | 6% | 4% |
| São Paulo | 793 | 24% | 1% | 5% |
| Seoul | 1,348 | 2% | 1% | 0% |
| Singapore | 149 | 11% | 1% | 1% |
| Stockholm | 200 | 13% | 27% | 19% |
| Vancouver | 148 | 38% | 5% | 15% |
Looks like hours and websites aren’t popular additions to OpenStreetMap banks in most cities, but perhaps that is OK. Generally speaking, banks typically have hours in between 9AM and 5PM or 6PM during the week in the United States, but there can be some variation in Saturday hours. All banks missing address tags would benefit from their addition. Addresses are well loved by geocoders and routing engines.
Helpful Tags
If you are behind in your savings goals, get inspired by adding or enhancing banks and ATMs in OpenStreetMap! Need some help choosing tags? Here are some suggestions which link to their corresponding OpenStreetMap wiki pages:
- name=*
- all appropriate address fields
- website=*
- operator=* particularly helpful for ATMs
- drive_through=*
- opening_hours=*
- Tips (because the opening_hours tag can be confusing)
- Use military time.
- YES: 06:00-22:00
- NO: 6am to 10pm
- Use two letter day indicators: Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
- YES: Mo-Fr
- NO: Mon thru Fri
- Do not add extra spaces between two letter day indicators or time ranges
- YES: Mo-Fr 06:00-22:00
- NO: Mo - Fr 06:00 - 22:00
- Separate more complex hours with a semicolon
- YES: Mo-Fr 06:00-20:00; Sa-Su 08:00-16:00
- No: another other separator besides a semicolon!
- Additional examples:
- 24/7
- Mo-Fr 06:00-22:00; Sa-Su 08:00-16:00
- Mo-Su 06:00-22:00; Th off
- Use military time.
- Looking for a helpful interface to help your format this tag properly? Check out YoHours
- Tips (because the opening_hours tag can be confusing)
- Particularly helpful for ATMs
- amenity=atm includes a great list of tags, including ones that are critical for hearing and vision impaired patrons.
Where to Start
Banks are ubiquitous in many urban areas, and they may be central features in small towns. Spend some time noticing the banks you pass by on a regular basis, remembering that local knowledge is key when editing features in OpenStreetMap.
Interactive Map
Would it be helpful to see where the current banks and ATMs are in OpenStreetMap? There’s a map for that! Hover over any of the bright blue highlighted features to bring up an info bubble with links to editing tools that can be used to add additional tags. (While you pan and zoom to your neighborhood, note that most banks show up at zoom 16, but you may have to zoom in more to see ATMs.)
This map is interactive! Open full screen ➹
If you’re not familiar with Seoul, open the full screen map and search for your city! Is a bank or ATM you are familiar with missing all together? Shift-click anywhere on the map to open iD or open your favorite OpenStreetMap editor to start mapping! For new features, start with the following tags:
If you are trying to decide between creating a point or a polygon to represent a feature, a point is great when the bank is in a building that contains other businesses and/or residences, and points are the preferred geometry type of ATMs. If the bank you would like to contribute occupies the entire building, digitize a building polygon if it doesn’t already exist and add your tags to it.
Getting Started with OpenStreetMap
Need instructions on how to edit with iD? Here are some links to outstanding tutorials from LearnOSM, the OpenStreetMap wiki, and the United States Department of State’s Humanitarian Information Unit:
Are you a mapping wiz and interested in a more advanced editor? Try out JOSM with excellent documentation from Mapbox.
Editing with a Mobile Device
With points of interest, I bet you are interested in a mobile app to edit OpenStreetMap while you are on the go.
iOS users can check out Go Map!! by Bryce Cogswell. This free editor allows you to add features and edit existing features. Check out the Go Map!! wiki page for more details. Pushpin by Fulcrum is another excellent iOS editor for OpenStreetMap points of interest.
Looking for an Android equivalent? Vespucci by Marcus Wolschon is a great option. Check out the Vespucci home page for documentation and tutorials.
Last but not least, for both iOS and Android, MAPS.ME now supports editing.
Get outside, increase your local knowledge, and share it with the world through your OpenStreetMap edits!
Check out all the posts in the Targeted Editing series:
