Routing with PgOSM Flex

This page provides a simple example of using OpenStreetMap roads loaded with PgOSM Flex for routing. The example uses the D.C. PBF included under tests/data/. This specific data source is chosen to provide a consistent input for predictable results. Even with using the same data and the same code, some steps will have minor differences. These differences are mentioned in those sections.

cd ~/pgosm-data

wget https://github.com/rustprooflabs/pgosm-flex/raw/main/tests/data/district-of-columbia-2021-01-13.osm.pbf
wget https://github.com/rustprooflabs/pgosm-flex/raw/main/tests/data/district-of-columbia-2021-01-13.osm.pbf.md5

Run docker exec to load the District of Columbia file from January 13, 2021.

docker exec -it \
    pgosm python3 docker/pgosm_flex.py \
    --ram=8 \
    --region=north-america/us \
    --subregion=district-of-columbia \
    --pgosm-date=2021-01-13

Prepare for routing

Create the pgrouting extension if it does not already exist. Also create the routing schema to store the data used in this example.

CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pgrouting SCHEMA public;
CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS routing;

This command explicitly specifies the public schema to enforce the expected default and avoid unexpected behavior with custom search_path settings.

Prepare data for routing

The pgRouting 4.0 release removed functions previously used for data preparation in the original documentation.

The routing setup instructions are now scoped to which version of pgRouting you are using. You can check your version with pgr_version().

SELECT * FROM pgr_version();

pgr_version|
-----------+
4.0.0      |

Follow the instructions for your version of pgRouting.

PgOSM Flex 1.1.1 and later packages pgRouting 4.0. If you are using external Postgres as the target for your data, the pgRouting version you have installed is in your control.

The 4.0 instructions have been rewritten to improve naming conventions and reduce artifacts left behind from the process. The goal with the rewritten docs is improved understanding and usability.

The pre-4.0 documentation used naming conventions aimed at conforming to pgRouting's naming conventions surrounding the legacy functions.