Rob's OSM Stuff » Post Hoc

Post Hoc — Analysing UK OSM Postbox Data

OpenStreetMap records the location of postboxes using the amenity=post_box tag. The Post Hoc tool provides statistics, reports and maps to compare the data in OpenStreetMap with data from Royal Mail. The Royal Mail Post Box data comes an FOI request. For further information, please see the Technical Details page.

Summary Statistics

Source	Boxes	Percent	Updated
Royal Mail list	115485		2013‑11‑11
OSM	83491	72.3%	2023‑03‑26
OSM (matched refs)	69402	60.1%	2023‑03‑26

View history graphs.

Progress Maps and Comparison Reports

OSM Post Box Progress

View the progress of mapping all post boxes by postal area and then district. At district level a map shows a comparison between official location data from Royal Mail and current OSM data. Discrepencies are highlighted for ground surveys. Note that the official locations are © Royal Mail, and we do not have permission to use them in OSM.

OSM Reference Issues

Results of various checks on the values in 'ref' fields of post box nodes on OpenStreetMap.

OSM Collection Times Issues

Postboxes with possible errors in the collection_times key.

OSM Royal Cypher Issues

Postboxes with possible errors in the royal_cypher key.

OSM Box Type Report

Report on usage of tags to describe box types.

OSM Operator Report

Report on usage of tags to describe the operator of the box.

OSM Tag Keys Report

List of all keys used on post box nodes, ordered by number of occurrences.

OSM Tag Lists

Various reports listing postboxes with specific tags defined:

Post Box League Tables

Top postal districts and users by updates to post box nodes in last 7 days.

#	District	Updates
1.	NG34	24
2.	S7	13
3.	FY8	10
4.	TR1	9
5.	CT3	9
6.	TA2	7
7.	TA3	7

#	Username	Updates	%Ref'd
1.	Yorvik Prestigitator	95	75%
2.	FortQuake	24	100%
3.	RaccoonFederation	24	67%
4.	AntV	24	100%
5.	UKChris	19	89%
6.	BarryMyles	18	100%
7.	Bill Mulhearn	18	100%

Top postal districts and users by updates to post box nodes in last 28 days.

#	District	Updates
1.	S35	37
2.	TR1	29
3.	DG8	26
4.	CT3	24
5.	NG34	24
6.	IP1	22
7.	GL5	18
8.	UB6	17
9.	TA2	16
10.	EX20	14
11.	PH3	14
12.	CO5	14
13.	EX4	14
14.	CT11	14

#	Username	Updates	%Ref'd
1.	Yorvik Prestigitator	314	73%
2.	dankarran	113	35%
3.	BarryMyles	94	97%
4.	RaccoonFederation	94	76%
5.	AntV	88	100%
6.	Bill Mulhearn	70	100%
7.	DanGlover	55	100%
8.	rskedgell	54	94%
9.	UKChris	50	92%
10.	chris_debian	46	93%
11.	PerthPerthshire	43	100%
12.	Djminisite	40	80%
13.	Hobgoblin	33	94%
14.	Mzy2c98Z6GUwahTX	32	91%

Copyright Warning: There is no permission from Royal Mail to use the box locations and reference numbers in their data in OpenStreetMap. So the data may not be used directly. However, you may find the comparisons helpful in suggesting places you would like to survey in the hope of finding missing post boxes to add.

Data derived from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap Contributors, licensed under Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL). XAPI courtesy of Overpass API.