India/Transport/Kochi

KochiTransport is a project launched in November 2021 to map the whole transport network of the Greater Cochin Development Authority area.

It involved Jungle Bus, AFD (Agence Française du Développement, French Development Agency), the transit consultant agencies Systra and Systra India, Geominds, and of course the local OSM community.

This page describes the process and the tools used to run this project.

Data

Bus stopsː https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1kwZ
Ferry stopsː https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1kx1
Bus linesː https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1kwX
Bus stationsː https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1kwW

Scope of work

Caption text
Type	mode	in scope	network	network:wikidata	operator	operator:wikidata	vehicle:colour
Green bus	bus	yes	Kochi city bus	TODO	Private Owners	/	green
Blue bus	bus	yes	Mofussil Kochi bus	TODO	Private Owners	/	blue
Pink bus	bus	no	Mofussil intercity Kochi bus		Private Owners	/	pink
Blue and white bus	bus	yes	Ordinary bus		KSRTC	Q679587	white
Orange and red bus	bus	no	Intercity bus		KSRTC	Q679587	orange
Feeder to Airport	bus	no	Feeder to Airport		KMRL	Q50375387	blue
Water Metro	ferry	no	Water Metro		KMRL	Q50375387	/
Ferries	ferry	yes	Kochi city boat		KSWTD	Q6393480	/
Metro	subway	no	Kochi Metro	Q55810159	KMRL	Q50375387	/

How to map ?

Bus stop

A bus stop is mapped at the position where passengers wait for a bus with a node on the side of the highway, with the following tags:

Key	Value	Mandatory	Comment
public_transport	platform	yes	This is a waiting area
highway	bus_stop	yes	This is a bus stop
bus	yes	yes	This is about bus
name	*	yes	The name of the bus stop in English
name:ml	*	no	The name of the bus stop in Malayalam
shelter	no	no	For a bus stop with only a pole or no marking at all
shelter	yes	no	For a bus stop with a shelter
local_ref	*	no	The platform number/letter (for bus stops inside bus stations only)

More details are available at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dbus_stop

Bus station

A bus station consists of several bus stops, it is mapped as an area surrounding the bus stops nodes, and the following tags:

Key	Value	Mandatory	Comment
public_transport	station	yes
amenity	bus_station	yes
name	*	yes	The name of the bus station
toilets	yes / no	no
drinking_water	yes / no	no

Auto rickshaw stand

An auto risckshaw stand is mapped at the position where passengers can wait for a rickshaw with a node on the side of the highway, with the following tags:

Key	Value	Mandatory	Comment
amenity	taxi	yes
taxi_type	auto_rickshaw	yes
name	*	no	Often the name of a junction

Ferry stop

A ferry stop is mapped at the position where passengers wait for the boat with a node or area and the following tags:

Key	Value	Mandatory	Comment
public_transport	platform	yes
man_made	pier	no	if there is a pier or jetty
ferry	yes	yes
name	*	yes	The name of the stop

In addition, you may want to create a node with amenity=ferry_terminal at the junction between the highway way and the ferry see way.

Public transport lines

A bus or ferry line should be described with (at least) 3 relations :

A master relation that describes general information :

Key	Value	Mandatory	Comment
type	route_master	yes	This is a meta relation
route_master	bus/ferry	yes	The public transport mode
name	*	yes	The name of line mentioning its 1st and last stop
operator	*	yes	Name of the company that operates the service (cf the scope of work table)
network	*	yes	Name of the network (cf the scope of work table)
opening_hours	*	no	The service hours (and days) of the line
interval & interval:conditional	*	no	The time between arrivals of any stop along the public transport route

This relation contains as members the 2 child relations (direction A and B).

More details are available at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relation:route_master

One or many child relations, one for each direction :

Key	Value	Mandatory	Comment
type	route	yes	This is a transport relation
route	bus/ferry	yes	The public transport mode
name	*	yes	The name of line mentioning its 1st and last stop
operator	*	yes	Name of the company that operates the service (same as route_master)
network	*	yes	Name of the network (same as route_master)
from	*	yes	The name of the first bus stop
to	*	yes	The name of the last bus stop
duration	* e.g. “49”	no	The time (in min) to travel from the first to the last stop (computed from the GPX track)
public_transport:version	2	yes	We use the public transport model (ptv2)

These relations contain as members the stops in the right order (with the platform role) and the ways that describes the track (with empty role). For bus routes, the ways are the existing roads whereas for ferry routes, the ways are traced and get the route=ferry tag too.

More details are available at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relation:route

Tools

We will use

OSMTracker with custom presets for the onboard data collection
JOSM with custom presets, plugins, and config for the data edition and QA
Busy Hours for the hours edition

The Jungle Bus team will provide training and support.

The following section explains how to configure and use this tools.

OSM Tracker

We will use the following layouts to track the routes:

To add these layouts to OSM Tracker:

Settings > Buttons presets
click on the + symbol at the top of the screen
then click on the wrench wrench at the top of the screen
select Custom and add the following values in the form:
- github username : Jungle-Bus
- repository name : osmtracker-layouts
- branch name : master
hit SAVE
Click on each layout to download it

Once you have downloaded a layout, it is available for use : you can activate it with Settings > Buttons preset when you are tracking.

JOSM

Here are the configuration for the project:

Presets

We will use the Jungle Stops preset to add in one click all main useful tags for public transport stops that have been surveyed. To activate the preset in JOSM:

Edit -> Preferences
Tagging presets
Select "Jungle stops"

Restart JOSM.

The presets are now available in JOSM presets menu. For easier access, you can add them as buttons in JOSM interface in

Edit -> Preferences
Toolbar

Plugins

We will use JOSM/Plugins/PT_Assistant. To activate this plugin:

Edit -> Preferences
Plugins
Search for "pt_assistant"
click on "update plugins"

Validators

We will use both the Jungle Bus validators (generic rules about public transport objects) and some rules specifics to our project. To add them to JOSM:

Edit -> Preferences
Data validator
Tag Checker Rules (2nd tab)
Select "Jungle Bus – validation ruleset"
Then, click on the "+" symbol
add "Kochi Transport" in the first field
add "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Jungle-Bus/transport_mapcss/kochi/kochitransport.validator.mapcss" in the second field

Filters

Optional filters to hide OSM elements that we won't need to update:

Edit -> Preferences and click the "Expert mode" at the bottom of the windows. Click OK.
Windows -> Filters (to add the filters panel in JOSM)
Add filter
Type "*[highway],node[amenity=taxi],*[public_transport],*:new"
Select "Mapcss selectors" as search syntax
Submit filters

Remote control

We will need the JOSM remote control:

Edit -> Preferences
Remote control
"Enable remote control"
OK

Quality Assurance

To ensure quality of the data in JOSM, we will rely on the following validators:

PT_Assistant plugin tests
Jungle Bus validation ruleset
the custom tests of the project

To set up JOSM to use these tests, follow the instructions ;)

Most of these tests can also be seen on the web using Osmose QA:

Mappers

The project has been listed on the Organized Editing Activities page.

Geominds coordinating the field level data collection and mapping in OpenStreetMap. You can reach Manoj Karingamadathil (Project Lead) email - dartermanoj[at]gmail[dot]com for any queries/issues.

The Jungle Bus team may also make some edits:

Annoucements

Public call for Mappers, OSM Kerala Telegram Group, Twitter, Linkedin
Organized Editing, OSM Kerala Telegram Group