Have you ever noticed the “Improve this map” link at the bottom of Mapbox maps? The link brings users to a form to let us know if something is not right on the ground. We look at this feedback every day, verify it against open information and make changes in OpenStreetMap. These changes reflect on our maps worldwide in under ten minutes.
We have been working on map feedback for a year now and have reviewed over 16,000 submissions. Here’s a breakdown of the types of issues and our approach to improving the map.
- Data - these are issues like missing streets, addresses, or turn restrictions in OpenStreetMap which we fix immediately.
- Satellite - these are reports of low resolution, or cloudy imagery for which we queue up requests for fresh imagery.
- Map Style - these are rendering issues like broken labels or polygons, and missing POIs, which we fix by improving map styles.
We ensure our edits are top notch by working alongside the active OpenStreetMap community. When in doubt, we leverage the note feature to engage the local community and ground truth the information. This process ensures that our maps are constantly evolving and optimizing user experience.