OpenSidewalks

Pedestrians have a wide variety of needs and preferences. For example, a given wheelchair user may need to avoid steep hills whereas another will attempt any hill. Therefore, data on pedestrian spaces must be detailed and specific: instead of labeling a path ‘wheelchair accessible’ in advance, we need to store data on its steepness and interpret it based on rules like ‘no steepness greater than 8 percent’. This means collecting a connected network of path data with detailed attributes that describe accessibility like width, surface composition, steepness, and shared traffic.

Whereas OpenStreetMap provides a rich basis for open-source mapping, OpenSidewalks seeks to provide a specification that is not only compatible with OSM but is a comprehensive and accessibility-forward specification for mapping sidewalks.

OpenSidewalks seeks to make pedestrian ways, like sidewalks, first-class members of an open, routable transportation network from which we can ask a variety of important questions. This means collecting a connected network of path types with detailed attributes like width, surface composition, steepness, and shared traffic.

The OpenSidewalks data schema defines an in-development specification for the mapping and use of pedestrian network data. It is intended to be a flexible format that can be populated from many different data sources, including OpenStreetMap, from which it is heavily inspired. Mapping pedestrian paths in OpenStreetMap using the rules of the OpenSidewalks standard (with a few caveats) will generate OpenSidewalks-compatible data.

Contribute to OpenSidewalks by…

• Learning how to map using the OpenSidewalks schema
• Participating in volunteer mapathons
• Forming teams of mappers within your school or community
  • Earn class credit!
• Providing feedback on our tools and schema
• Signing up for our mailing list

To get started, make an account at https://tasks.opensidewalks.com/ or reach out to uwtcat@uw.edu for more information!

For guidance on how to map, watch our series on Youtube!

Annotations for Pedestrian Environment (APE)

Elevating the ambitions of TDEI and OpenSidewalks, the Annotations for Pedestrian Environment (APE) dataset addresses a critical urban mobility challenge: accurately mapping pedestrian pathways, including sidewalks and crossings. This project introduces a novel dataset featuring aerial satellite imagery, street map imagery, and precise annotations of sidewalks, crossings, and corner bulbs across various cities. The APE dataset is crucial for a broad spectrum of applications, enhancing pedestrian pathway assessments, and fostering improvements in multi-modal navigation and urban planning.

The dataset spans $2,700 km2 land area, covering select regions from different cities. It can be used for various learning tasks related to segmenting and understanding pedestrian environments. 

View the Los Angeles APE dataset

If you are having trouble accessing the dataset, please reach out to yz325@uw.edu