Free Map Terms and Limits

First let me emphasize that the map usage here is fully legal and is directly supported by all the map providers. I once read a snarky comment in a cycling forum implying that this site was somehow cheating the map providers out of income by providing stolen map features in some mysterious way. That stung because it's not even a tiny bit true. The poster could have verified the legality of sites like this with ten seconds of Googling before posting, but hey, that's random strangers on the internet for you. As ever, xkcd has it covered.

The Ordnance Survey organisation has provided limited free access to their maps and data since 2007. Other map providers have similar arrangements. The free services are designed for non-commercial, low-volume hobby sites like this one. So if my monthly map quotas get exceeded by too many users then you may have to wait until the next month when the quotas are renewed again.

The terms of the OS API services as regards the maps are as follows. I can allow site users to:

• view the maps
• temporarily cache map data for up to 24 hours (i.e. keeping your browser window open for long periods)
• print maps for personal, non-commercial use with the exception of printing for the purpose of making planning applications, which is specifically not allowed (I'm not sure why!)

The above terms means that I am not permitted to provide an offline map storage feature for use when not connected to the internet.

All the map providers offer commercial services with much higher usage limts. But I would then have to somehow ask site users to pay for using the site. I have no wish to make a business out of this, nor even a paying hobby, so that won't be happening, sorry.