2024 was a year of exciting growth for both OpenStreetMap and the OpenStreetMap US team. Let’s celebrate some of the highlights!
1. The Team Grew
OSM US welcomed Jake Low, Software Engineer, and Alyssa Castronuovo, Program Coordinator, in August! Jake is an on-staff maintainer for two OSM US Charter Projects (OSMCha and MapRoulette) and, as a long-time Trails Working Group member, he is helping shape the future of the Trails Stewardship Initiative. Alyssa works with the team on OSM US events like Mapping USA and Mappy Hours, and coordinates the behind-the-scenes of current (and future) programs including Mapping for Impact and Community Projects.
2. State of the Map US 2024
Mappers, community members, and open data enthusiasts came together the second weekend of June in Salt Lake City, Utah to celebrate The Great Outdoors at State of the Map US 2024. All corners of the mapping world were discussed – from what it means to map the world’s largest miniature railroad to how MapRoulette can strengthen communities.
To read more, check out the conference recap post!
3. OSM US Launched the Community Project Program
In September, OpenStreetMap US created the Community Project Program to amplify grassroots innovation. This initiative provides small-scale projects with benefits like increased visibility, nonprofit affiliation, a monthly stipend, and long-term support. It complements the Charter Project Program, which supports larger initiatives with greater organizational needs.
Since the start of this program, OSM US has welcomed three projects aboard:
- OpenStreetMap Americana: A cartographic style inspired by paper highway maps, built using open-source vector tile technology.
- OSM Merge: A conflation tool built for improving trail and rural road data.
- SliceOSM: Made-to-order and freshly baked slices of ‘osm.pbf’ regional extracts.
Applications remain open year-round. If you have a project or tool that benefits the OpenStreetMap ecosystem, check out the guidelines and apply!
4. OSM US Welcomed New Members
OpenStreetMap US offers membership opportunities for individuals and organizations at different tiers. Members provide sustained support for the programs, tech, and advocacy OSM US staff and volunteers work on throughout the year!
Individual members participate in OSM US board elections (which are coming up!), receive discounts on ticketed events, and more. This year, OSM US welcomed 118 first-time members, and the number of current members increased 29.8% from 2023!
Organizational members give critical and sustainable support to OSM US from government agencies, academic institutions, and private companies throughout the year. 2024 saw incredible growth in membership; Kendall County, Illinois Dept. of Gis became the first Community Member! MassGIS became the first state department Organizational Member, and Meta, Esri, and the National Parks Service became top-level Strategic Members.
The OSM US team is so grateful for both new and returning members in 2024, thank you for supporting the organization!
5. The Pedestrian Working Group took its First Steps
Since the first meeting in March, the Pedestrian Working Group has made great strides toward a map full of sidewalk geometry, kerb nodes, and tactile paving. This diverse group of stakeholders is working towards a tiered tagging schema to help mappers, local governments, data analysts, and more to determine the quality of their local sidewalk data in OpenStreetMap. Take a look at their draft wiki page!
The Pedestrian Working Group meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 3:00 pm EST. If you’re interested in joining, sign up here.
6. OSM US Charter Projects Thrived
OpenStreetMap US supports OpenHistoricalMap, OSMCha, and MapRoulette via a fiscal sponsorship model to ensure the continued growth of these key projects. Hear directly from the teams behind these projects about their 2024 highlights:
OpenHistoricalMap is growing by leaps and bounds as we celebrate our 15th birthday. Over the past year, our date-annotated data has grown by more than half with the help of 255 new historical mappers. We now have the most comprehensive coverage of historical U.S. county and time zone boundaries anywhere on the Internet, serving as scaffolding for extensive and growing coverage of local boundaries in New Jersey, Michigan, and elsewhere. Abroad, mappers are similarly building out coverage of the British Empire, Holy Roman Empire, and various other polities from past centuries. Additionally, the OHM advisory group has been working behind the scenes to facilitate solutions to community needs and establish partnerships with academia and GLAM institutions. For the first time, OHM partnered with the OSMF to participate in the Google Summer of Code, resulting in editor improvements that mappers use every day.
Learn more about what OpenHistoricalMap was up to in 2024 (like the new Railway style, integration with Gramps Web, and more) on the new OHM forum!
After welcoming OSMCha as a Charter Project in late 2023, the project migrated to entirely OpenStreetMap US infrastructure. This allowed the team behind OSMCha to make necessary improvements to decade-old code and reduce project costs for a more financially sustainable future. To signify this migration, OSMCha released version 1.0!
In 2024, over 500,000 changesets were made with the #maproulette hashtag! The MapRoulette team has been hard at work constantly improving the user experience for the folks contributing all those changesets. Since the start of 2024, MapRoulette now features Rapid editor integration and a major database upgrade has reduced unscheduled downtime to near zero.
Jake joining the OSM US team was a shared 2024 highlight for both MapRoulette and OSMCha!
Did you know you can donate directly to OpenHistoricalMap, OSMCha, and MapRoulette? If you use any or all of these platforms throughout the year, please consider supporting their ongoing maintenance and development!
And the year’s not over! In just the next few weeks…
- The OpenStreetMap US Community Survey closes on January 3rd.
- Mapping USA, OSM US’s annual virtual conference, is on January 24th & 25th. Register for free here!
- Early bird ticket sales and the Call for Proposals close for State of the Map US 2025 on January 31st.
- Three board seats are open in the upcoming OSM US elections!
It’s clear the OSM US team has much to be thankful for in 2024, and plenty of reason to head into the new year eager to continue advocating for the tech, projects, and people in this wonderful community. Help the OSM US team hit the ground running in 2025 by joining as a member, or making a donation before the new year!
Interested in keeping up with all things OSM US in the new year? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Here’s to the mappiest year yet!
