Data Sources

PitStopper combines services we run ourselves with third-party public APIs. Our self-hosted services come in pairs - if one server is down the other answers, with a public instance behind both - so the notes below only mention fallbacks where they differ from that pattern.

Self-hosted Runs on PitStopper servers

Third-party Public API, accessed directly

Proxied Third-party data via our servers

PitStopper Servers:

POI Server Vector Tiles Raster Tiles Fuel API BRouter

How Fresh Is the Data?

Everything we self-host is built from OpenStreetMap, which never stops changing. Each dataset refreshes on its own schedule:

Data	Refreshed	Typical lag behind OSM
POI data (PostGIS)	Every other day - the two servers alternate	A day or two
Routing data (BRouter)	Weekly - one server Monday, the other Thursday	One to two weeks
Vector map tiles (OpenFreeMap)	Weekly - one server midweek, the other at the weekend	Around a week
Raster tiles (Streets, Topo, Cycling)	Rendered live upstream; our cache holds a tile up to 30 days	Usually fresh; up to a month in rarely-viewed areas
Server updates (OS security)	Installed daily; any needed restart happens at 00:01 UTC (server 1) or 12:31 UTC (server 2), just before that server's data refresh	-

POI Data

Whole-route POI searches are answered by our PostGIS pair; the public instance below is the last resort.

Planet-wide OpenStreetMap import - 75 million POIs in PostGIS. A whole-route search is one indexed corridor query, so even long routes answer in well under a second. Refreshed weekly.

POI server 1 POI server 2 PostGIS ODbL License

Geofabrik's public planet PostGIS - the last resort, reached only when both of our servers are unavailable.

postpass.geofabrik.de Postpass

Route Distance & Track Snapping

Track-edit snapping and On-the-go's Emergency POI road distances (Premium) use a real routing engine rather than straight lines.

Our own BRouter pair - open-source routing over OpenStreetMap's road and path network, used for track-edit snapping and Emergency POI road distances.

Routing server 1 Routing server 2 BRouter © OpenStreetMap contributors

The public instance run by BRouter's author - the fallback if both of ours are down.

brouter.de BRouter

Map Tiles

Vector tiles are the main map: one set covers every zoom, restyles for dark mode, and is what gets bundled for offline use. The raster proxy backs the classic Streets, Topo and Cycling layers.

The whole OpenFreeMap planet, self-hosted: 153 GB of vector tiles per server, rebuilt weekly. Powers the OpenFreeMap base map, the 3D view and flyover, and the offline map bundled into saved projects and Send to Phone. Data from OpenMapTiles and OpenStreetMap.

Tile server 1 Tile server 2 openfreemap.org OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

The project's public instance - fallback only. We self-host so everyday use doesn't lean on a free community service.

tiles.openfreemap.org openfreemap.org OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

Caches the classic raster layers (Streets, Topo, Cycling), cutting load times and keeping our traffic off community tile servers. If both proxy machines are down, the app fetches from the provider directly.

Tile proxy 1 Tile proxy 2 Streets, Topo, Cycling

Default street map tiles - the fallback behind the tile proxy.

tile.openstreetmap.org openstreetmap.org ODbL License

Satellite imagery and hillshade layer for terrain visualization.

server.arcgisonline.com esri.com

Topographic layer with contour lines and terrain shading.

tile.opentopomap.org opentopomap.org

Cycling-focused layer highlighting bike infrastructure and routes.

tile-cyclosm.openstreetmap.fr cyclosm.org

Elevation under the 3D map and flyover - open data (SRTM and national datasets) via the AWS Open Data programme, no key needed.

s3.amazonaws.com/elevation-tiles-prod Terrain Tiles

Dark mode tiles and supplementary layers for 3D terrain views.

basemaps.cartocdn.com carto.com

Outdoors layer for hiking. Requires your own API key.

tile.thunderforest.com thunderforest.com

Fuel Prices

Station prices, opening hours and amenities, built from government open data and served from our own server.

Fuel server UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy

Database downloaded from GOV.UK Fuel Finder dataset.

Fuel server - UK GOV.UK Fuel Finder

Database downloaded from the French government's open fuel pricing portal.

Fuel server - France prix-carburants.gouv.fr

Data from Tankerkoenig/MTS-K (Markttransparenzstelle für Kraftstoffe).

Fuel server - Germany Tankerkoenig CC BY 4.0

Data from the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico open data portal.

Fuel server - Spain geoportalgasolineras.es

Data from MIMIT (Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy) open data.

Fuel server - Italy MIMIT IODL 2.0

Food Hygiene Ratings

Food hygiene ratings for UK eating places, straight from the FSA API.

api.ratings.food.gov.uk FHRS API docs United Kingdom

Geocoding & Search

Photon answers search-as-you-type; Nominatim gives the better address detail. Each stands in for the other, and right-click address lookups alternate between them.

OSM's own geocoder - used where address detail matters: right-click "what's here", planner waypoint labels, and full address search.

nominatim.openstreetmap.org Nominatim

Komoot's OSM geocoder, fast on partial input - powers search-as-you-type in the planner and location mode, and backs up Nominatim.

photon.komoot.io Photon API

OSM tag search, used when creating custom POI categories.

tagfinder.osm.ch TagFinder

Knowledge & Photos

Geotagged Wikipedia articles near your route.

en.wikipedia.org Geosearch API CC BY-SA 4.0

Geotagged photos for street-level imagery along routes.

commons.wikimedia.org Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgements

We are truly thankful for the communities involved in contributing data to both the OpenStreetMap and Wikipedia projects. Without the countless volunteers who map, edit, and maintain these open datasets, PitStopper and many other projects simply would not exist. Thank you.