Learning Geospatial Analysis with Python - Second Edition

Mapping NextBus locations

Now, we are ready to use this information to create our own map. The best source of freely available street mapping data is the OpenStreetMap (OSM) project: http://www.openstreetmap.org.

OSM also has a publicly available REST API called StaticMapLite to create static map images: http://staticmap.openstreetmap.de.

The OSM StaticMapLite API provides you with a GET API based on Google's static map API to create simple map images with a limited number of point markers and lines. A GET API, as opposed to REST, allows you to append name/value parameter pairs after a question mark on the URL. A REST API makes the parameters part of the URL path. We'll use the API to create our own NextBus API map on demand with a red pushpin icon ...