# Introduction

Maps are one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure for human society and the global economy.

[Billions of people](https://www.businessofapps.com/data/navigation-app-market/) around the world use mapping apps every day. Millions of organizations, from businesses to government agencies, rely on mapping APIs and services to support their operations. With every year that passes, more and more of the world's 1.5 billion vehicles use advanced technology features that demand richer map data than ever before.

Analysts estimate the mapping industry has a market size of[ $200B to $300B](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/09/16/2298690/0/en/Geospatial-Analytics-Market-Worth-256-Billion-by-2028-Market-Size-Share-Forecasts-Trends-Analysis-Report-with-COVID-19-Impact-by-Meticulous-Research.html), including mapping apps and APIs, geospatial analytics, GIS, and map data collection.

But there's a problem.

Most of today's maps are built by deploying dedicated vehicles to collect high-quality, street-level imagery. That's expensive, so mapmaking is consolidated among the few companies with the capital to map roads at global scale. It means maps often don't reflect current realities on the ground.

And yet, most roads are driven every day. In the United States alone, [humans drove](https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10315) 3.26 trillion miles in 2022, or 8.9 billion miles per day. So why can’t ordinary people, and ordinary cars, collect map data?

### Bee Maps is built with data from the Hivemapper Network

[The Hivemapper Network](https://docs.hivemapper.com/), launched in 2022, is an open, global, decentralized mapping network that relies on a mix of humans and AI to build a map from the driving we do everyday. Thanks to its vibrant contributor community, Hivemapper [collects](https://hivemapper.com/explorer/total-km-mapped) millions of kilometers of road-level imagery every week.

[Bee Maps](https://beemaps.com/), the owner of this page, is a licensed developer in the Hivemapper ecosystem. Bee Maps provides products and services that make it easy for end users such as enterprises, app developers and government agencies to tap into the rich data on the Hivemapper Network.

## The Problems We’re Solving <a href="#networked-not-crowdsourced" id="networked-not-crowdsourced"></a>

1. **Uneven coverage and freshness** - Typical methods of collecting map data are very expensive, so even the best-funded companies struggle to refresh maps at global scale.
2. **Fresher maps for autonomous and** [**ADAS**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_driver-assistance_system) **driving -** Today's maps were made for humans.  The maps required by autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles require far fresher data.
3. **Expensive for businesses** - Millions of businesses pay to integrate maps into their products. With so few choices for reliable maps, monopoly pricing makes map data unaffordable.
4. **Today's maps don't understand the "why"** - When cars start to travel at 10 mph on a road they normally travel at 40 mph, modern maps don't know if this is due to road construction, a minor fender-bender or a severe crash that will take hours to clear.  Even when a user reports an issue through an app, they cannot immediately trust the report without imagery.

The documentation in this repository is intended to help people learn about Bee Maps products and learn how to use them. If you can’t find the answers you need, just fill out this form on our homepage, and our sales team will get in touch with you.&#x20;

Thank you for being a part of the future of maps.

-The Bee Maps team
