Post banner depicting 6 screenshots of roads added by the author
Since I started to contribute to Google Maps in 2017, I wanted to add and edit roads. But unfortunately, the Google map maker program was called off when I learned about it after I got connected with fellow local guides in my country.
Then in 2021, I got access to a new road mapping tool, Road Mapper. But I couldn’t contribute so much using Road Mapper, because I didn’t have my own computer back then, and it is a desktop application. And when I got my computer in 2022, I didn’t find the application to be easy. First, most of the roads had been already drawn by fellow road mappers by then, and secondly, I couldn’t draw roads wherever I wanted, only inside a small square in the middle of nowhere, without much context of where that place was.
Then in 2022, I finally was able to add roads using my smartphone, directly through the Google Maps app. I have found it very useful because now I could add roads anywhere (actually, not everywhere, I couldn’t draw roads in Middle East Africa and some other countries). I was able to draw roads in my city, then around my country and beyond. So far I have added roads in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Iran. And finally, a few days ago, the 100th road added by me got approved.
List of contributions by the author
Finding new roads to add in maps has become easier in Bangladesh with the help of up-to-date street view imagery, which I use to locate and verify the location of new roads. The fun thing is that for some roads, the street view is instantly visible after they get published in the maps because the street views of the roads were recorded even before the road was added to the maps.
But one thing which is problematic about adding roads is the time which is taken to approve or to decline an edit. It takes an infinite time. And again many properly drawn roads get declined after remaining in pending status for months, which is frustrating. I think the Maps team should look into this matter to speed up things a little bit.
But hey, at least I could add roads, that’s enough for me! And I’m not stopping drawing roads anytime soon… 
Thanks for reading, leave me a comment below! Best wishes to all those who are celebrating the Bengali new year! 
