What is OpenRouteService.org?
OpenRouteService.org (ORS) is an open source routing service developed by HeiGIT (Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology) at Heidelberg University. It provides services for route planning and navigation for various modes of transportation including driving, walking, and cycling.
Some key features of ORS include:
- Supports route planning and navigation for driving cars, riding bicycles and walking
- Global coverage with focus on Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand
- Flexible and modular architecture allowing customization and extension
- High performance suitable for integration into medium to large scale applications
- Open source server application based on Java and PostgreSQL/PostGIS
- Public demo server available for testing purposes
- Developer-friendly APIs for integration into third-party applications
ORS is well-suited for developers looking for a self-hosted, customizable routing engine for their applications. The open source model provides full flexibility in terms of modifications and extensions. The performance characteristics also allow it to scale for high traffic applications.