Geospatial Analysis for OpenStreetMap| GeoDesk
PBF format ("Protocolbuffer Binary Format") is primarily intended as an alternative to the XML format. It is about half of the size of a gzipped planet and about 30% smaller than a bzipped planet. It is also about 5x faster to write than a gzipped planet and 6x faster to read than a gzipped planet. The format was designed to support future extensibility and flexibility.| wiki.openstreetmap.org