How HERE creates better maps for the Balkans with the help of a motor club

When Bosnia’s largest motor club wanted better maps of their area, they partnered with HERE to map 8,000 kilometers of new roads.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, like anywhere else in the world, drivers sometimes need a helping hand. Someone might need a tire changed, or have their car towed. Or, perhaps they need insurance, help with registration, or driver education. That’s when motor clubs like BIHAMK jump into action to provide help and services for local car owners. Naturally, many of those services depend on having reliable maps.

In the past, detailed maps of the West Balkans have not been edited and updated at the same pace as one would expect in other dense urban areas. That lack of information translates into drivers being unsure of their routing options, and service vehicles unable to efficiently navigate to where help is required.

For companies like BIHAMK, a core part of their business is their ability to provide detailed roadway information for their members, as well as provide timely, efficient assistance where it’s needed. To achieve these things, without deploying fleets of sensor vehicles, the company made the decision to start capturing map data on their own.

In a bold move, showing their commitment for their community, BIHAMK did not opt to pursue a private solution that would only benefit their members. Instead, they chose a collaborative approach, one where they took the lead in creating a better experience for everyone on the roads. The result is a community mapping effort powered by HERE, which will create better maps for everyone in the area.

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To put the effort into motion, HERE provided phones to BIHAMK’s service drivers to take pictures of the roadways as they went through their daily routine. Those pictures, much like the pictures taken by camera cars, are then uploaded into Mapillary and fed into HERE algorithms, which use computer vision to detect roads, lanes, traffic signals, street signs, roadside objects, and more.

The objects that are identified from the images are then placed into MapCreator for processing (making sure the data is timely and accurate), and are ultimately deployed into the HERE maps in Bosnia and Herzegovina for navigation, traffic information, logistics, and a multitude of other services.

Using this approach, BIHAMK has already mapped more than 8,000 kilometers of roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In exchange, BIHAMK is putting HERE APIs to work in the applications they build for their 50,000 members, while also providing better map data for anyone on the roadway that uses HERE maps.

We’re proud to take part in community mapping efforts with companies like BIHAMK, and we continue to find the areas where we can sponsor community mapping efforts like this all over the world. To get your own mapping project started, visit Mapillary and HERE Map Creator.