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by spacemule 343 days ago
The biggest thing keeping me from using any open source routing or even Google Maps is that here in Israel there are roads that are illegal to drive on either because they're access to PA territory or they're bus/taxi only. No application other than Waze avoids these, so I'm stuck using Waze. I just checked this, and to get to a building down the street from me, it wants me to YOLO myself through the bus lanes.
3 comments

> is that here in Israel there are roads that are illegal to drive on either because they're access to PA territory or they're bus/taxi only.

You can fix those aspects yourself in OpenStreetMap (OSM), with the result that once your updates flow into the routers/apps that use OSM (OsmAnd, maps.me, etc.) that those tools should stop attempting to route you over those roads.

Openstreetmaps is notorious for having ultra-granular information, down to flags for whether a post in the street is metal or floppy, retractable or fixed.

For bus lanes, I just checked and they're all correctly marked in my city. Seems they are missing in yours, sadly.

>> For bus lanes, I just checked and they're all correctly marked in my city. Seems they are missing in yours, sadly.

Fortunately OSM can be edited by users. Updating the lanes in your city is something you can do. I'm not saying it's easy, just that it's possible.

I tried to get into OSM a few years ago, and the barrier to entry seemed a bit high. Maybe I'll try again. For all I know, the lanes are properly marked, it's just a routing issue. In Israel, the bus lanes are a bit odd. A lane can be a turn-only lane for cars and straight-only for busses. So, it's a bit complicated. Even Google Maps can't handle it.
> A lane can be a turn-only lane for cars and straight-only for busses.

That seems pretty normal, there's lots of this around Europe. Apparently overlooked by navi/maps designers overall.

You can get in touch with the Israeli community here, maybe they know an app that works, or if there's something that can be done with the current tagging: https://community.openstreetmap.org/c/communities/il/50

Maybe the bug you're seeing is this? https://codeberg.org/comaps/comaps/issues/510

this can definitely be mapped in OSM. as far as a high barrier to entry, I'd say that there is a low barrier to mere entry. StreetComplete provides extremely easy OSM editing. Unfortunately, dong something complicated like mapping the turn lanes and what bus restrictions exist on turn lanes is not easy
Thanks for sharing StreetComplete. I hadn't seen that. My interests are usually around K8s, Linux, containerization, IoC, etc, so I honestly hadn't looked as deeply into OSM recently as I should. This looks like a fun way to contribute back a bit.
Is Garmin City Navigator reliable there? You can delete stuff and export your own maps in Basecamp.
I'm not familiar with it. Waze is such a standard that I've just gotten used to it, but I'm down to clown with anything new as long as I'm on familiar roads and routes.