> maybe they are scanning cities for their self-driving cars and are also using this data for Maps?

I think that sounds plausible. I don't see why else they would resume scanning parts of Germany even though they have to blur out large chunks of it on Streetview.

> Just a thought: maybe they are scanning cities for their self-driving cars and are also using this data for Maps?

This is extremely likely. We know that Street View cars have been carrying Lidar equipment for a few years now which aids in HD mapping. It makes total sense for them to re-use this data for their self driving cars.

Ah, they now have the same detail OSM had five years ago. Who knows, maybe some day they will be on par.

That was my first thought when I just saw "sidewalks" & "crosswalks" too. But AFAIK OSM doesn't have anything remotely like that level of sidewalk shape data. And while stairs on paths are mapped, I don't think outdoor building stairs are mapped.

> But AFAIK OSM doesn't have anything remotely like that level of sidewalk shape data.

Yes, for now only tiny part of sidewalks has area info. See https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:area:highway

> I don't think outdoor building stairs are mapped.

It can be mapped, also not done in most of places

Here, in OSM, I can see stairs shape, type of pavement, stairs direction, and amount of stairs. Not sure about sidewalks, though. OSM is pretty detailed altogether. It depends on user input, but the tools are there.

Thanks for the link. I hope they allow switching between both version. I know the one on the right on your link gives more information, but it looks too crumbled. I dont need most of the information there.

They are. I’ve been geotagging 100 arts locations in Somerville ma for a decade.

A volunteer who likes to bike checks out the locations. There used to be some that were quite off, now it’s really spot on.