[FR] map routes

[rui-nar]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

me and my family do a lot of trips by bicycle. When we prepare, we usually start by mapping available camping sites in the vicinity of our destination, then PoI and then we start to look at routes to choose the best (ie, shortest or easiest) that matches all of that.

Describe the solution you'd like

So on top of being able to add PoIs. I would like to be able to add routes (from Google Maps is fine or manual import of routes) and manage those routes as objects. Our trip ends up being a set of routes that go from A to B to C.

Additional context

No response

Could you implement it?

No - I can't implement it right now

Implementation plan (optional)

No response

[itskovacs]

Hi 👋,

When you mention routes, you're talking about itineraries? If so, the itinerary feature is my headache, I've spent a lot of evenings to find a suitable solution for weeks. Every option has either been a non-starter (not open-source, not free, etc.) or very hard to implement (different language, extra server, full refactor). I see routing features as essential to turn the app into a real replacement for freemium products, but I'm having a hard time finding the right thing from a FOSS perspective.

There are a few other topics, but routing is the one I simply can't find a solid solution for. Honestly, it's been a real puzzle 👍.

I'll implement the GPX feature in the next release (it was there before but I had problems with it when migrating to BETA UI), to be able to show the GPX attached to a plan. This way, you could add your itineraries into the plans (for instance, a XX:XX Navigate from A to B plan would hold the GPX itinerary). Might be a solution?

[sjorge]

Have you checked out OpenStreetMap’s API? I believe they also have a routing API, and it’s packed with a lot of information. (It can probably replace some of the Google Maps dependencies with Open Data.)

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing

[itskovacs]

I don't remember the reason but I had a compatibility issue with OSM. I'll take the time to play with it properly, if it's working I'll implement this 🙌!

Thanks for the tip 👍

[sjorge]

Seems you're slowly starting to use OSM data and routing <3

If I am not mistaking it's always taking a car route type now, it would be nice if you could the route type per plan item.

e.g. this day planning

1. leave hotel (hotel 1)
2. museum X (museum X) [route type = walk(pedestrian?)]
3. museum Y (museum Y) [route type = train/public transport (IIRC you can pass the types it can use so perhaps be specific here between train/bus/ferry)]
4. restaurant A (restaurant A) [route type = walk]
5. return to hotel (hotel 1) [route type = train]

When hitting the route button it would then do

1. walk route to 2
2. transport route (train only) to 3
3. walk route to 4
4. transport route (train only) to 5

Just a random idea I had as car for me is the least likely route when traveling it's mostly going to be walking + train/subway.

Adding a extra flag to the plan item of how you want to get to it could work to figure it out and give some decent control without making. And since it's part of the plan item it should allow for flexibility if a place is used in multiple trip.

Also simpler version of setting a trip route type or even a day route type probably won't work very well either as you might train/drive to a location and then walk between a few and drive/train again to a next location.

[itskovacs]

I've made a fixed distance switch car/foot to 5km, but the OSRM project only supports the car profile. An option I'm assessing is switching to OSRM DE which provides dedicated URLs for car, foot, and bike but might not be a sustainable solution.

The multi-profile issue is the routing matrix support issue I mentioned in the 1.39.0 release 👍.

Couple of other options I'm evaluating, using Google Directions API, adding another provider for routing such as GraphHopper (requires API key, with limitations) or Valhalla, integrating osrm-backend directly into the backend is not an option as it requires at least 300GB of storage.

So there are a few issues here, regarding either the routing provider itself or the routing logic in the trips: multi-profile itinerary (car + foot), public transportation not possible, etc.

It's a big chunk taking me a lot of time 👍

[sjorge]

I vaguely remember different end points when i was playing with it years ago, I think I have have been using OSRM DE yeah as Germany is pretty close to me.

Valhalla looks interesting, haven't come across that before (Not that I generally look at these types of things though). Storage is usually where I live for $work.

Like with the query support abstracting it in to a multiple api layer maybe? So people with google api access can enable/pay to get the directions api. And others can fall back to OSRM (DE)/valhalla/... ? Ofcourse that complicates things, a bit extra work up front might be better in the long run though.

[rui-nar]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Yes, I was talking about itineraries and I'm glad to see they're in your radar. GPX is a good starting point, that would be cool. Thanks for the answer in any case 👍🏻👍🏻