Using OpenStreetMap routers for directions

youngji22

Right now, it seems like the only way to get directions to places are third-party mapping services. It would be nice to leverage a router e.g. one on wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing/online_routers for directions.

This would help improve privacy by limiting what information third-parties can collect on you.

Thibaultmol

I agree, I'm a big OSM fan so I personally really like to see osm being used for routing. They're already using Mapbox for various things, so it's probably the quickest to implement for routing. Not sure how well their routing is, but yeah.

@damian in the meantime, could we also have maybe a button to open openstreetmap.org for directions?
(this issue shouldn't be closed when that button gets added tbc)

This is the url schema with an example:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?route=51.0415876%2C3.3978175%3B51.0004346%2C3.3271187

Looking at this OpenStreetMap URL step-by-step:

Base URL

https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions - OpenStreetMap's routing/directions service

Query Parameters

Routing Engine (optional, not included in this example, defaults to this anyway)

engine=fossgis_osrm_car - Uses FOSSGIS OSRM routing engine optimized for car routes

Route Coordinates

route=51.0415876%2C3.3978175%3B51.0004346%2C3.3271187

Decoded coordinates:

Start point: 51.0415876,3.3978175 (latitude, longitude)
End point: 51.0004346,3.3271187 (latitude, longitude)
Separator: %3B (URL-encoded semicolon ;)
Coordinate separator: %2C (URL-encoded comma ,)

damian

We plan to add our own routing/navigation. Initially we think about using Mapbox API which is based on OSM but probably will support multiple routing providers. Good idea with adding OSM routing link for now.

OldGuyInTheClub

Is public transit routing on the roadmap? Maps and routing are areas where deGoogling is very hard.

Not a fan of OSM. A lot of the routes it has given me are plain wrong and I can't trust it. For example, if my destination is Los Angeles International airport, it forces routing to offices well away from the passenger areas. I have to work hard to get past that.