Mapping of bicycle parkings - collaboration with Fietsberaad Vlaanderen

Communities België / Belgique / Belgien (Belgium)
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Dear OpenStreetMap Community,

As Fietsberaad Vlaanderen, we have been working on consolidating the data on bicycle parkings for the last few years in a systematic way, where municipalities are in control of the data. On top of the linked open data platform, we have built some applications like a widget to show bike parkings on their websites, an application to get a view on the number of bicycles parked and an integration with automated counting systems.

Yet, we had not seen the light until recently. Of course, it would not make sense to have a database on bicycle parkings in Belgium and have it not linked with the OpenStreetMap bicycle parking data. Therefore we have worked with Mapcomplete (Velopark naar OpenStreetMap sync tool ) to supply the tools to close the gap between both systems. This way, the sometimes rich data from municipalities on bicycle parkings from Velopark is linked to the OSM entries (after validation).

We are excited and grateful that the community around Mapcomplete and OSM already synced 400+ bicycle parkings. It made us think. We would like to propose a bigger collaboration between Fietsberaad / Velopark and OSM, if this appeals to you. In the first place, we are looking for the remaining bicycle parkings to be linked through Mapcomplete, where possible.

At Fietsberaad, a small SME with three employees, we view this project as a crucial part of a broader partnership. To show our commitment to the OpenStreetMap community in Belgium, we will check with the OSM board if we can become a supporting member.

As part of de Vlaamse Vereniging van Steden en Gemeenten (VVSG), we believe in fostering dialogue between the mapping community and local governments. Accurate mapping of cycling infrastructure and measures is essential for effective urban planning and cyclist safety. We also understand the importance for the mapping community of receiving accurate information from cities and municipalities about these projects. If you’re interested in initiating conversations with your local city or municipality but need help finding a starting point, let us know – we’re here to facilitate these connections.

To further gratify your contributions, we are considering setting up a lottery for top contributors before the end of August to award a sustainable price that matches OSM volunteers’ interests.

Your questions and feedback on this proposal or other ways to set up a collaboration are always welcome; please reach out to pieter@more-lion.com - 0476 270 480

Kind regards,

Pieter

(in opdracht Wout Baert - program manager Fietsberaad Vlaanderen)

ps.: please see also the official letter directed to the Belgian OSM community.

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Fietsberaad want to see this thing move. So we want to experiment with a little incentive that they are paying for. Basically, we will give you a volunteer fee for working on this. That’s tax free income for Belgian taxpayers (as long as you don’t make over 1300 euros over all your volunteering in a year). This replaces any other costs you might make for the project.
As always: quality over quantity. If you check the work of others that do the linking work, you can apply for a fee. If you see people massively just clicking the link button, please report them. But we also want a simple way to contribute, so we decided you can also apply for half a day fee for every 30 parkings you add. However, if we notice the quality of your work is not good, we will not grant fees.
To apply, just let us know at board@osm.be what you worked on or are planning to work on!

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If you want to know more, or you’re just hungry, Friday November 8 meetup with pizza in Ghent!

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If anybody is interested in mapping all the remaining bike parkings in a qualitative way as a a freelance assignment, do not hesitate to contact me!