Dual road shields, improved city labeling and coastline trimming

The most noticeable improvement is the addition of terrain, but there are quite a few other style-related improvements that we’re excited to announce as well:

• Support for dual road shields
• Improved road shield spacing
• Improved road shield density per zoom level
• Improved city styles
• Improved tunnel styles
• Improved coastline trimming

Did you know that MapQuest started offering tiles based on OpenStreetMap data back in 2010? Since then, we’ve expanded our Open data offerings to include a number of APIs – all of which are free to anyone who would like to use them. Unlike our licensed data offerings, MapQuest-OSM tiles are available for direct access and can be consumed by other mapping toolkits, such as Leaflet and OpenLayers.

Have questions or need help getting started with using MapQuest-OSM tiles? Feel free to check out the Open Initiatives – Tiles forum on the MapQuest Developer Network or tweet us. We love to hear from developers who are using our tiles and APIs!

Terrain and improved tunnel styling

MapQuest first began offering products and services based on data from OpenStreetMap back in July 2010, and today we’re extremely proud to be announcing a slew of updates to our Open APIs – all of which are still available for free and without any limit on transactions!

Open JavaScript Maps API v7.0

Multipoint routing using the Open JavaScript API v7.0

Open Aerial Tiles
For those of you looking to add aerial imagery to your application, you’ll be happy to learn the MapQuest Open Aerial Tiles have been fully integrated into the API. The tiles are composed only of imagery in the public domain (or released under similar licenses) and can be used for any purpose without any restrictions.

Geolocation Control
As the name indicates, this new control can be used to detect the user’s location and automatically re-center the map. A custom handler can also be added to perform a task, such as getting directions to the nearest ice cream shop after the user has been geolocated.

Increased Mobile Support
A major focus for the v7.0 release was to significantly improve performance and functionality on mobile devices. Key bug fixes were made in order to better handle touch events and increase support for pop-up InfoWindows and other popular features.

Many, many more upgrades are still to come, but we think you’ll love all the enhancements we’ve already made! We strongly encourage you to switch to the new Open JavaScript API v7.0 and check out the much improved Developer’s Guide.

Open Geocoding API

One obstacle with using OpenStreetMap has always been geocoding, but the new Open Geocoding API (our first stab at releasing a first-rate open geocoder) allows users to geocode, reverse geocode and batch geocode addresses. Powered by Nominatim, the Open Geocoding API makes it possible for users to specify which country to search, which city to search, and use other advanced specifications to further refine their request.

Basic Geocode Request:
http://open.mapquestapi.com/geocoding/v1/address?location=Lancaster,PA

Advanced Geocode Request:
http://open.mapquestapi.com/geocoding/v1/address?json={location:{city:”Portland”,state:”OR”}}

To learn more about the API, including information about returning the geocode quality and static map thumbnails in the response, be sure to read the Open Geocoding Developer’s Guide. If you also have suggestions on how we can improve the service, please let us know!

Open Directions API, Open Guidance API & Open Static Map API

Continuing with the geocoding theme, both the Open Directions API and Open Guidance API now support addresses as their input.

Example:
http://open.mapquestapi.com/directions/v1/route?from=Lancaster,PA&to=York,PA&ambiguities=ignore

The Open Static Map API has also been updated to support address locations when making a getplacemap request.

Example:
http://open.mapquestapi.com/staticmap/v4/getplacemap?location=1090 N Charlotte St, Lancaster, PA&size=500,300&type=map&zoom=17&showicon=red_1

(Note to current Open Static Map users: please switch to v4 as v3 has been deprecated).

All the above geocoding capabilities, as well as the Open JavaScript API v7.0 we announced today, help add an incredible new level of depth to our APIs. It’s a truly significant step towards advancing the MapQuest Open APIs into becoming not only the most unique and disruptive mapping API available, but also a legitimate competitor against other paid solutions.

We owe many thanks to the OpenStreetMap community for contributing their time and efforts to the project, and we hope you share with us all the creative ways in which you use our APIs!

Have questions or comments? Please post them on our forums or on Twitter @MapQuestTech and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you and enjoy!

The MapQuest iOS Maps API essentially takes the default iOS mapping tools a step – or a few steps – farther, by offering features currently unavailable to iOS developers, such as integrated driving directions and the ability to choose between licensed MapQuest and MapQuest-OSM data and map tiles. Getting started is a breeze; the iOS Maps API uses the same object model as the default iOS mapping tools, so it is an easy, drop-in replacement. Simply download the API toolkit and samples, add the MQMapKit framework to your project, and ensure that the import statements are referencing the MQMapKit framework. That’s it! Code samples are included with the download and the Developer Network Forums are always a great resource for answering questions and meeting other developers who use MapQuest APIs.

The iOS Maps API 1.0.1 release also incorporates enhancements and bug fixes that have been made as a result of feedback provided by developers on the Developer Network Forums, Twitter, meetups that we have attended, and MapQuest Enterprise Solutions developers who have already started to build applications based on the beta releases. This release improves overlay rendering and memory and tile usage and fixes iOS 5 MapKit incompatibilities that were reported during the beta. A full changelog is included with the release notes, so be sure to take a look.

Not an iOS developer? We’ve still got you covered. MapQuest offers many options for mobile developers:

• Android Maps API – The Android Maps API is available to Android developers who wish to incorporate the MapQuest platform into native Android applications.
• Mobile Flash Maps API – The Mobile Flash Maps API is available to Flex developers who create native Android and iOS applications by utilizing the ‘build once, deploy everywhere‘ functionality included in the Flex SDK.
• JavaScript Maps API – The JavaScript Maps API supports touch gestures and can be used to create feature rich browser-based mobile Web applications.
• MapQuest Web Services – The MapQuest Web Services can be accessed directly by any client capable of making HTTP requests, so if the previous options are not a good fit for your project, the Web Services are yet another option available to mobile developers.

We love to hear from our developers! Tell us about the great applications you have built with the MapQuest mobile APIs, either by posting on the Developer Network Forums, or tweeting us!

MapQuest-OSM Tile Changes
This week we launched a major upgrade to our tiling infrastructure, with two major benefits. The first is noticeable, while the second hopefully is never noticed. We updated the styles of our Open tiles to match some of the improvements we’ve made on our licensed tileset. Click on the image below to see the details of our extreme makeover.

The second change is that we upgraded the tiling platform for better performance and reliability. Hopefully it’s like a great offensive line in football – you never notice it because it just works.

We have more updates in our Open infrastructure on the way. Stay tuned.

MapQuest Open Tiles + Leaflet

Nestoria

Next we wanted to highlight some applications that recently switched to MapQuest OpenStreetMap Tiles and why they did it. Both of them paired our tiles with Leaflet, an open source JavaScript mapping library that we’re big fans of.

Nestoria is a property search engine that operates in five European markets, India, Brazil, and Australia, and has successfully implemented MapQuest-OSM Tiles and Leaflet.  There are many reasons why Nestoria chose to use MapQuest-OSM Tiles with Leaflet, but one reason specifically mentioned is the availability of tools and support from the community, which includes MapQuest’s active support for OSM.

World Airport Codes

Fubra, the operator of the World Airport Codes website, shared details of their switch from the Google Maps API to a solution that involves MapQuest-OSM Tiles and Leaflet as well.  After evaluating a number of solutions, they ultimately decided that the combination of MapQuest-OSM and Leaflet offered the best solution for their needs.

If you have questions about MapQuest Open data initiatives or want to learn more, feel free to check out the documentation and open data forums on the MapQuest Developer Network. Also, if you have an app that is using MapQuest-OSM tiles and want it to be featured on this blog, let us know!

What does the API do then? The Open Static Map Service enables the user to create beautiful static map images generated via an HTTP request for their website or publication. The simplest example requires only a few key parameters:

• center – center of map in latitude/longitude
• size – size of map in pixels
• zoom – zoom level of map

For example, http://open.mapquestapi.com/staticmap/v4/getmap?size=600,200&zoom=15&center=41.862648,-87.615549 will result in the following image:

But what if you need to plot POI locations? On satellite imagery? Easy.
http://open.mapquestapi.com/staticmap/v4/getmap?size=600,200&zoom=3&center=35.60395,-98.906248&type=sat&pois=yellow_1,33.748867,-84.388185,0,0|yellow_1,29.763066,-95.363351,0,0

How about a route? No problem.
http://open.mapquestapi.com/staticmap/v4/getmap?size=600,200&zoom=14&shapeformat=cmp&center=40.770021,-73.984003&shape=y_zwFjsrbMxWkz@??}DoC??a@}CyBt@ySiN??fDeP&scenter=40.77069,-73.992378&ecenter=40.770935,-73.97644

Multiple features, plus an automatic ‘declutter’ option? You got it!
http://open.mapquestapi.com/staticmap/v4/getmap?declutter=true&size=600,200&center=40.720212,-74.066627&zoom=5&pois=yellow_1,40.037661,-76.305977,0,0|orange_1,41.761715,-72.686376,0,0|orange_1,41.394906,-73.454489,0,0|orange_1,41.380665,-73.420447,0,0

Now that you’ve seen a few examples, don’t be shy! Get creative by dynamically producing static maps for your website, adding your own custom icons, and more!

Visit the Open Static Map Developer’s Guide to learn about additional request parameters and options available. Or if you’re just a beginner, perhaps you’ll want to head straight to the Open Static Map Wizard.

As always, find us on Twitter @MapQuestTech or the Developer Network to provide feedback!

Using this service is really no different than directly calling for our driving, walking, or biking directions. Simply changing the routeType to ‘multimodal‘ will prompt MapQuest to begin searching for an optimal route combining pedestrian routes with transit routes.

Because transit data is also time-sensitive, some key parameters outlined on Date/Time Routing Options have been added and are required for the service to return a response. Seen below is an example of a transit route request using the Metro from the oft forgotten about and climbable (!!) Albert Einstein Memorial to the Verizon Center in Washington, DC.

http://open.mapquestapi.com/directions/v0/route?routeType=multimodal&timeType=1&outFormat=xml&from=38.892551,-77.048244&to=38.898137,-77.020928

As documented on the Date/Time Routing Options page, when the value of timeType is set to 1, the current time is sent to generate a transit route. Other options include choosing a certain day of the week and time, or selecting a specific date and time — all of which can have a major impact on the transit route returned.

Don’t forget to also check out the updated Advanced Routing Sample and give our API a test-drive!

Partial screenshot of the Advanced Routing Sample using the Open Directions API

Currently, transit directions are available for six major metropolitan areas: New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco in both our Directions API and the Open Directions API. Please feel free to provide feedback on our forums or @MapQuestTech while we look to increase the amount of transit data available and improve the service itself.

Happy Transit Commuting!

- Xapi (pronounced ‘zappy’): This a read-only OpenStreetMap (OSM) extended API providing enhanced search and querying capability for nodes, ways, and relations where the results are returned in XML format. This Xapi tool will query the OSM data by searching on tags using name=value pairs (such as amenity=pub) or by bounding box of the area of interest or both. Here’s a sample URL that searches on pubs in the greater Denver area (click link to see XML output):

Xapi Simplified GUI

We’re using the Java Xapi version that Ian Dees developed earlier this year; our simplified UI is based on Emacsen‘s design currently used on OSM. The MapQuest page on Github is full of cool stuff, too: Xapi, Mapnik map style, Potlatch 2 Resources and more!

- Nominatim Pre-indexed Data Service (NPI) is a tool for developers that can export pre-indexed OSM data hosted on the MapQuest servers as an alternate database location. The Nominatim Planet data file is quite large – in the range of 15-20 GB or so – but using the MapQuest Nominatim pre-indexed data service allows developers to have their own instance of Nominatim for running complex queries on their own servers.

Having a pre-indexed file to start your Nominatim install will also speed up the installation process by as much as 75 – 90 percent! Any developer can take this pre-indexed file, start up their own Nominatim installation, hook it up to our pre-indexed updates to get an OSM Planet Nominatim version of “Minutely Mapnik” for search/geocodes (instead of map updates) with updates provided approximately every 5 minutes. Since this new system does all the indexing for you – it also reduces the CPU horsepower needed to run Nominatim in your development environment (i.e.: at home). Installation instructions are found here.

- Broken Polygon Report for Nominatim: When importing OpenStreetMap (OSM) data, Nominatim validates OSM polygons and then will discard polygons that it considers ‘broken’ during the import process. These ‘broken’ polygons could be where the interior of a multipolygon is disconnected or, where a polygon intersects itself. We’ve created a report of these broken polygons that provides a click-and-view list that any user can see and correct the polygon errors in JOSM or Potlatch 2.

Sample of a self-intersection: a broken polygon that needs fixing.

Feel free to let us know how these tools work for you – questions and comments are always welcome in our Open forums or on Twitter @MapQuestTech!

There are currently three (3) main files – one for the United States, one for Canada and one for Europe.  More information can be found on our OSM wiki page.

We didn’t want to just import these addresses directly into OSM, but wanted them to be available to anyone that wanted to have them.  To be clear:

1. these addresses are user provided
2. there is a high degree of ground-truth from these users
3. they WANTED to be in the data and be correctly mapped
4. we’ve checked with our lawyers, and yes, you can have them – UNENCUMBERED!

Our good friend, Ian Dees, has written a script to convert the files listed on the MapQuest wiki page into OSM format!  Check out the code here on GitHub.  Thanks Ian, you rock!

Happy mapping!

Chris Weaver - today's featured MapQuest Dev.

Some days it can be a difficult task to overcome writer’s block and other days, like today, you’re asked to write about an awesome new service and blogging comes easy. So without further ado, I present you with draggable bike routes for our new Open JavaScript SDK!

The customization that drag routing on open data allows is by far superior to anything we’ve ever had (of course, until our next update). You’ll also see below that implementing this is a snap. But first, a special thank you goes out to our Systems Architect, Chris Weaver, who has put forth a significant effort to help support the Open JavaScript SDK and the new bike routing options!

Now in order to fully understand the benefits of this service, let’s take a look at some of the main user concerns and what MapQuest can do to address them.

Map is Missing Data

Know a shortcut specific to cyclists/pedestrians? Add it to OpenStreetMap (OSM)! The new data will then be picked up by the MapQuest servers so you and everyone else will be able to drag route on the new bike path. If you need assistance with adding bike paths in OSM, be sure to check out this great tutorial over at Cyclelicous.

Missing shortcut (walkway) for cyclists!? Just add it!

Altering the Bike Route

If you plan on biking in Alexandria, VA, and you suddenly crave frozen custards from The Dairy Godmother (my favorite!), simply drag the route to your desired location. Both the route and POI locations are draggable and can help you with all your last minute customization needs.

Customizing the route by dragging it farther south.

Printing Out Directions

As expected, the SDK can return a narrative of the OSM directions which can then be used as a cue sheet for your ride. If you need to customize it further by drag-routing, no problem! The directions will also get updated automatically.

The directions update as the route gets dragged.

Also of note is when dragging the bike route, the algorithm is smart enough to only route you on a bike friendly path. For example, trying to drag your route on an interstate or areas where bicycle access is set to false in OSM will fail.

As you can see, there’s really no excuse now for you to not develop a savvy MapQuest application that spits out great bike routes… ok, so maybe there’s always room for improvement! We already have other bike routing features in the works so please stay tuned. Thanks to everyone who’s already provided feedback and the cycling community for embracing our services!

And in case you’re wondering, drag routing is also available for both driving and walking directions. Just make sure to add:

ribbonOptions:{draggable:true,draggablepoi:true}

Simple as that!

Announced today at Navigation Strategies USA by Randy Meech, head of engineering for local & mapping at AOL, we’re officially launching: 1) The Open Guidance Service that allows you to create your own real-time, turn-by-turn navigation application based entirely on OpenStreetMap!! 2) The Open JavaScript SDK using strictly the MapQuest Open Services! And, 3) Open Aerial Tiles!

Open Guidance Service

A real-time, turn-by-turn navigation app!? How can this be done? Guidance, as seen in the Developer’s Guide, is the beefier, bulkier brother of the Open Directions Service and contains additional raw data associated with the route. One of the key differences is that it can also return speed and intersection costs per road segment that allow real-time guidance for navigation applications to more accurately estimate the time until the next maneuver.

For example, take a simple route like the following:

http://open.mapquestapi.com/guidance/v0/route?from=37.401672,-121.911233&to=37.339409,-121.893904&narrativeType=text

Response snippet:

"GuidanceNodeCollection":[
...
{"infoCollection":["Turn left on McCarthy Boulevard",
"Turn LEFT onto McCarthy Boulevard."],
"turnCost":12,
"maneuverType":4,
"linkIds":[4]},
...
]

Referring back to the documentation, you’ll note that maneuverType displays which type of maneuver action should be taken (4=turn left), turnCost displays the number of seconds it takes to transition between successive links along the route, and infoCollection provides both a text-to-speech narrative and a display-ready narrative.

Keep in mind the above GuidanceNodeCollection is just a small portion of the response returned. The service can also return GuidanceLinkCollection, GuidanceExitCollection, GuidanceRoadInfoCollection, and loads of other details that help provide the means necessary to develop a navigation application.

Open JavaScript SDK

OpenStreetMap has already changed the face of mapping, and it continued its march on today as a potential main data source for a real-time navigation application. Because OSM is to be taken seriously, we are proud to release our very first Open SDK!

This toolkit grabs the Open tiles created from OpenStreetMap and allows developers to add interactivity to their maps, generate Points of Interests, produce advanced routing between two or more points, do a Nominatim search, plus numerous other features found on http://open.mapquestapi.com/sdk/js/v6.1.0/.

To get started with your own mapping application, simply follow the Basic Map documentation, then spruce it up by adding Controls and POIs/InfoWindows. Like all of MapQuest’s other Open Initiatives, an AppKey is not necessary and you’ll be able to dive directly into the SDK.

Identical to the Open Directions Service, the routing options for the toolkit include crowd-pleasers such as multipoint routing, ability to avoid specific road types, and my personal favorite, bike routes! Full documentation is available here.

Sample bike route using the new Open JavaScript SDK.

Open Aerial Tiles

As if the above announcements aren’t enough, we’re also releasing a new open tileset combining the best of the freely available satellite imagery and aerial photography! The data thus far has mostly been collected from places such as the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the National Agriculture Imagery Program.

Flatiron Building in NYC on Open Aerial Tiles.

It currently offers global imagery at a 30-meter resolution and up to 1-meter for the United States. The service itself is still very much in its early stages as we continue to augment the initial dataset with more and improved data.

However, if you’d like to begin using the Open Aerial Tiles now or in the early stages, the process is very similar to using OpenStreetMap tiles. The only change needed would be the tile URLs.

OpenStreetMap Tile URL: http://a.tile.openstreetmap.org/8/126/87.png
MapQuest-OSM Tile URL: http://otile1.mqcdn.com/tiles/1.0.0/osm/8/126/87.png
MapQuest-Open Aerial Tiles URL: http://oatile1.mqcdn.com/naip/8/126/87.png

Whew! Amazingly, that’s all we have for now and there are no more new announcements for the day. We hope you take advantage of some of the aforementioned Open Services and share with us what you’ve been developing. Questions and feedback are always welcomed on the Open Forums as well as on Twitter @MapQuestTech.