West Midlands - Combining data for innovation

West Midlands Combined Authority is built on open data

OpenStreetMap and open data are vital parts of a strategy to build a state-of-the-art transport system for the future in the West Midlands in the UK. This is particularly acute given the position of West Midlands position at the heart of several transport networks for the UK and the major imminent and long-lasting network disruption and development emanating from the development of the HS2 rail link. The concentration of automotive manufacturing in the region provides a focus for the development of smart solutions for next generation vehicles. The project has several cornerstones, such as digital enablement ensuring connectivity across the region and data enablement across multiple public and private sector stakeholders.

Stakeholders involved

  • West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for West Midlands (their strategy for online information services will rely on OSM as a basemap layer)

  • Mappa Mercia (local OSM chapter, keeping OSM up-to-date)

  • Private sector (such as national highway maintenance contractors, SMEs, Startups like Mapbox)

  • Public sector organizations (HighSpeed 2 railway extension project, Highways England, Department of Transport, Midlands Connect)

  • Data Discovery Center (pioneering data sharing across stakeholder groups)

Types of data (license)

  • Trees import (BCC OGL UK)

  • Traffic signal data (BCC OGL UK)

  • Stop lines and give-way lines ( added from aerial imagery)

  • Major highway development: City Centre Paradise development site (mapped by OSM survey as road network changed)

  • Bus lanes (BCC OGL UK)

  • Bus stops (WMCA OGL UK)

  • Bus and tram lines etc (WMCA OGL UK for tram lines, GPS surveys for bus lines and extrapolation from route_refs on bus stops)

  • Cycling Infrastructure, including rollout of 20mph speed limits (BCC OGL UK)

  • Swift Card Collector Points (WMCA OGL UK)

  • Lane counts and destination lanes (mapped from aerial imagery Bing and Warwicks CC)

  • Upgrade of local motorways to smart motorways (manual OSM surveys and Highways England newsfeeds)

  • Heritage buildings ( Historic England and Birmingham City Council OGL UK)

  • Birmingham New Street Station redevelopment (mapped in 3D from OSM surveys)

Technical solutions

  • Bus stop refresh: import and manual review from csv extracts of TfWM data via JOSM

  • Trees: import and manual review from csv file via JOSM

  • Bus Lanes: add tags to existing highways from BCC line data, conditional time restrictions added from OSM surveys

  • Rest were manual edits from the original data, tracing from aerial imagery or OSM-user generated data from surveys

Subsequent outcome, success stories

Quotes from stakeholders tbd

Further reading

PreviousCase studiesNextSeattle - Automatization of updating curb situation in Seattle

Last updated