Combining Road Network Data from OpenStreetMap with an Authoritative Database

Abstract

Computer modeling of road networks requires a detailed and up-to-date data set. This paper proposes a method of combining authoritative databases with the OpenStreetMap (OSM) system. The complete route is established by finding paths in the graph constructed from partial data obtained from OSM. In order to correlate data from both sources, a method of coordinate conversion is proposed. The algorithm queries road data from OSM and provides a means of locating any point on the route in both data sets. A method of calculating the distance of any route point from the origin, and conversion between the distance and geographic coordinates, is described. Next, the location of any route point in the authoritative database is converted to the calculated route distance, which establishes a relation between the two data sources. Additionally, a method of estimating road curvature is proposed. The algorithm was validated in series of experiments. The proposed algorithm may be beneficial for researchers who collect data sets needed for computer simulations, e.g., for evaluation of optimal speed limits, and it shows the usefulness of OSM in transportation-related research.