The OpenStreetMap US team is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has joined as our first Strategic organizational member and our first member representing the U.S. Government. BTS produces the National Transportation Atlas Database and leads the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s Transportation Theme, while also developing statistics and analyses that provide context to decision makers and the public for understanding transportation. Welcome BTS!
In fall of 2022, OpenStreetMap US expanded membership to include Government agencies, and BTS is leading the charge. BTS is part of OSM’s Government Working Group, which helps foster collaboration opportunities and data standardization, while also addressing data licensing issues that work toward sharing authoritative data and overcoming technical challenges associated with data exchange. This collaboration improves access to accurate geospatial information which is used to build evidence for decision making and inform policymakers across Government.
As an Organizational Member, BTS will join the conversation as OSM clears the path to novel and sustainable methods of geospatial data collection, such as the Public Domain Map (PD Map). The PD Map project allows map contributors across the United States to edit, contribute to, and consume federal datasets via a collaborative user environment and modified versions of popular OpenStreetMap tools; simultaneously improving Government datasets and OpenStreetMap.
Does your organization use OpenStreetMap? Are you looking for a meaningful way to give back and support the growth of our open-source community? If you answered yes, then we encourage you to consider our organizational membership. We offer five tiers of membership to accommodate different levels of investment. Membership benefits include networking events, educational opportunities, discounts on event sponsorship including our State of the Map US conference, and more! For more information, email membership@openstreetmap.us.
