Challenge
Managua lacked accessible public transit information, making navigation difficult for residents and visitors. No comprehensive map existed for the city’s 45 bus routes spanning Managua and Ciudad Sandino.
Approach
As mapper and design contributor within the MapaNica OpenStreetMap community, I participated in field data collection and led interpretative design decisions for the printed map distribution. I helped coordinate community mapping efforts and collaborated with professional designers to translate complex route data into user-friendly visual information.
Implementation
Three-year collaborative effort involving 150+ volunteers mapping 45 bus routes across two cities. Successfully produced and distributed printed maps throughout Managua via crowdfunding support from Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. Created sustainable open-source transit data now integrated into mobile applications, establishing a replicable model for community-driven urban mapping in Central America.
Links
- Project website: rutas.mapanica.net.
- Community blog.
- Printed map on differentes formats.
- Mapanica.net on Facebook and Twitter.
- Github‘s repository.
MapaNica, the OpenStreetMap chapter in Nicaragua, is a community of enthusiasts for geodata, free and participatory technologies. Conformed by cartographers, professionals, companies, non-profit organizations, programmers, students of various careers and other citizens, the community gatters at mapping parties to learn to collect geographical information with free applications, and thus map their neighborhood and local urban environment.
Among its projects, the creation of the urban transport map in Nicaragua stands out. This has been a collective work of more than 150 volunteers who surveyed for three years the 45 routes of the city of Managua ahttps://www.hotosm.org/nd Ciudad Sandino. In collaboration with Ninfus Design Studio, and thanks to a crowdfunding campaign supported by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, a printed map was designed and distributed in the city.
Inspired by the Digital Matatus collaborative project, this was a unique and exemplary innovation venture in which I contributed as a mapper and helped on the interpretative design of printed maps which we later distributed in the city.
To date, the local team has worked in the data optimization and its integration into some transport mobile apps.