Differing approaches to tagging vending machines for motor fuel dispensing have caused confusion

Can remember the 24/7 stations at least back to 2000. Many have daytime service, but then you can still do the pre-payment by machine or sit in the car and be serviced for the mere 18-20 Eurocents per liter or 9-10 Euros on 50 liters, no kidding i.e. highly discouraged.

Hi. I’m the guy who drove several thousand kilometers across the north of Thailand and mapped several hundred objects amenity= vending_machine + vending=fuel, and also fixed several points amenity=fuel on vending, because you can’t call an old rusty barrel with a hose a “fuel station”.

P.S. in other countries, I still used shop=fuel for stores that sell bottles of gasoline, but in Thailand now this is not relevant and I do not mark them.

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Hi pLoskutov, welcome and thanks for your valuable recent contributions!

In my opinion, a convenience store that occasionally sells bottles of fuel should be tagged as shop=convenience + vending=fuel. As you mentioned, these have become quite rare in Thailand, rendering this information largely irrelevant.

However, I think that the very common Drummed fuel shops merit a distinct high-level tag as well, and shop=fuel originally served as the inspiration for it. You can check out @AlaskaDave’s comments and contributions on the wiki page for more context: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:shop%3Dfuel


What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with this approach, or do you have any alternative suggestions to distinguish them from conventional retail stations?

I don’t see a fundamental difference between vending machines and barrels. Only the way to accept money :slight_smile:
I think the price and quality of fuel are the same at all independent gas stations.
I think only two types are enough: a station and a vending machine.

But now OsmAnd Maps still has the problem of displaying fuel vending machines - it shows all vending machines and not just fuel :frowning:

Marking up stores selling bottled fuel doesn’t make sense. In areas where there are no filling barrels, you can ask for a bottle at any grocery store. After all, we do not mark separately stores selling alcohol or water.

Drummed barrels are staffed, operate during specific hours, and offer quantities sufficient for cars, which marks a significant distinction.

@AlaskaDave has already invested considerable effort in introducing the shop=fuel tag. It would be unfortunate not to utilize it, or even worse, label these wrongly as vending machines.

If we intend to create a tagging differentiation between vending machines and retail stations, it’s imperative that we include a third scenario for drummed fuels (shop=fuel) for the reasons I’ve outlined earlier.

Some traditional retail stations, like Shell, also charge higher prices, so pricing alone isn’t a conclusive basis for high-level tagging differentiation. An alternative approach could be to utilize operator=independent for this distinction, providing renderers with the flexibility to use this information as needed.

FWIW: the bottled fuel shops really aren’t suitable for filling an automobile or truck. The fuel is expensive and the proprietor can only add one liter at a time. In an emergency, a person might buy enough fuel to get to a “real” fuel station but would never fill the tank there. Therefore, I agree that differentiating between a barreled fuel shop, a vending machine scenario, and an actual full-service fueling station is a worthy goal for this discussion.

I agree that a valid tag is operator=independent and have tagged all such shops that way.

@pLoskutov: both bottled fuel and vending_machine fuel are significantly more expensive, maybe 30% more, than fuel bought at a full-service branded fuel station. This is another compelling reason to differentiate them somehow.

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After all, we do not mark separately stores selling alcohol or water.

actually we could, it doesn’t make a lot of sense around here, but I could imagine areas where it is interesting information

An alternative approach could be to utilize operator=independent for this distinction, providing renderers with the flexibility to use this information as needed.

operator is not the right tag for this, it is meant to have an operator inserted. Maybe operator:type=independent could be used, if independent can be defined.

both bottled fuel and vending_machine fuel are significantly more expensive, maybe 30% more, than fuel bought at a full-service branded fuel station. This is another compelling reason to differentiate them somehow

this is dependent on the region I guess, around here vending machines are cheaper than having your vehicle filled at a service station, and the same as when you do it yourself, there is no compelling reason why saving on salaries should be more expensive.

we have shop=water and shop=alcohol (though in many areas shop selling primarily or only water are fairly simple)

we have also shop=beverages

Prices in vending machines can be from 42-44 per liter , but most often 50 , and sometimes 55-56 per liter. At the same time, the price at the brand fuel station is 40.
If I have the opportunity to get to the station, I will not refuel in a barrel or a vending machine

I don’t mind shop=fuel, but I don’t agree either.
I will obey the decision of the community.

But I insist on separating the station from the store and the vending machine. The station should only be a full-fledged gas station.
But there are also independent fuel stations (which have a roof over the territory and underground fuel storage) - I think such objects need marking as a station (amenity=fuel) and the word “independent” in the tags: name, brand or/and operator

It depends on local culture. In Europe it is pretty safe to assume that a supermarket or convenience shop will sell alcohol.

In my experience when in Canada supermarkets don’t sell alcohol.

Yes. In any store, some product may run out or not be sold. But this is not a reason to do the opposite - instead of one mixed goods store (a wide range), do a lot of pois for each group of products.
An exception is if it is a specialized store (alcohol, meat, fuel).

this is all very expensive, around here price is usually lower than 2 per liter :), like 1.90

50 Baht are about 1.30 Euro …

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Alright, so here’s my proposal:

  • Full-fledged retail gas stations will be tagged as amenity=fuel.
  • Standalone vending machines will be tagged as amenity=vending_machine + vending=fuel.
  • Specialized/dedicated fuel shops (e.g., barreled fuel shop) will be tagged as shop=fuel.
  • No mandatory requirement for adding vending=fuel at general stores selling fuel in bottles.

This approach provides a clear distinction between the three first categories.

iD already provides presets for these, and “Gas Pump” will soon be renamed to “Gas Vending Machine,” as per @Dimitar155’s recent PR.

The next steps will involve:

  • Updating the wiki to align with the micro-mapping requirement to man_made=fuel_pump.
  • Submitting a feature request update to OsmAnd.
  • Enhancing our Thailand wiki Fuel section with the vending machines and barreled shop categories.

Do you have any objections or suggestions to add?

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Great. Starting today, I will start adding new barrels on my way as shop/fuel. But the old ones need to be searched through an automatic script (many of them are marked as Drum)

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The only problem remains in OsmAnd Maps - when searching for a gas station, it will only show ameny/fuel. To find vending machines and mazagins, you need to search in the search categories.
And the problem remains - after adding vending machines with fuel, it will show all vending machines (not just fuel).

Has someone tracked this issue in osmandmaps ?