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Faced with the pbadage a paying model, the department of Maine-et-Loire has decided to dispense with mapping services from Google. The community chose the Open Source solution, Openstreet
Publicit Last May, Google confirmed the rumor of charging the Maps API used by a third-party application or a website. Until then, this API was almost free, but since July 16 (Google having dcal its tariff evolution this date-l), dynamic maps (which allow for example the user to zoom) are paid from 28 000 downloads per months, while the threshold was up to now 25,000 per day. A modification that makes teeth cringe, but has forced several customers to find alternatives.
The department of Maine-et-Loire was in this frame-l. Its website has 200,000 visitors every month and the services that include cartography are numerous: road traffic, map of nature trails, directory of institutions for the reception of handicapped people, map to know your home college or to find childminders . There are many examples and changes in Google's pricing policy represent an additional cost difficult to absorb for a territorial community. The problem arose for the site Infoway49.fr with peaks of requests when there is snowfall, floods. The access to cartography is then very solicited, notes Cline Pottier, responsible for the digital uses and Internet in the department.
An Open Source alternative for a fast integration
Given the relatively short delay, the DSI of the department of Maine-et-Loire made a global reflection based on the offers available on the market. The choice was for an Open Source solution, named OpenStreetMap. The latter was initiated in 2004 by Steve Coast, with the desire to create a free mapping program. Google has tried to regain contact with the local community, but too late, says Cline Pottier.
The integration of the collaborative tool has taken place quickly. There were actually two projects. The first concerned the department's website and the other related to the Infoway49.fr website. The first one integrated OpenstreetMap's map data, the other was based on more institutional data (IGN), says David Gatard, a developer attached to GIS within the department. The migration for both projects was rapid between 2 weeks. For the integration part, Grgoire Rondouin, a developer with the DSI, admits Google took care of everything. For the dynamic display, we went through a Javascript library, Leaflet, which allows to install markers. He adds that for the basemaps, he turned to CartoDB, which provides purer card funds.
In the end, there are still 5 mappings put into production and should be very soon. The change was seamless and the team had no negative feedback from users. In practical terms, Cline Pottier notes a saving of time in loading maps on the website. On the volutions, David Gatard voices the APIs of gocoding and calculation of itineraries, even if on this last point Google still has advance, recognizes the developer.
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Article authored by
Jacques Cheminat Deputy Chief Editor
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