As well as their main settings, the TravelTime tools share optional parameters that let you fine-tune each search. They sit in collapsible groups below the main parameters. Leave a parameter blank to use the API default. Only the options that apply to your chosen transport mode are shown.
Transportation options
Times are in minutes.
Parameter | What it does | Default |
Public Transport Boarding Time | Time to board, added at each change between public transport legs | 0 |
Walking Time | Longest walk at each end of a public transport journey | 15 |
Driving Time to Station | Longest drive to the first station or stop | 30 |
Cycling Time to Station | Longest cycle to the first station or stop | 15 |
Parking Time | Time to park a car or bike at the station or stop | 5 |
Ferry Boarding Time | Time to board a ferry | 0 |
Maximum Changes | Most changes allowed between public transport legs (0–20) | No limit |
Traffic Model | Custom: optimistic, balanced or pessimistic. Core: peak or off_peak | balanced / peak |
Disable Border Crossing | Stops driving journeys from crossing international borders | Off |
Include Roads | Allows tracks (unpaved roads) and restricted roads | Neither |
No transportation option can be longer than the travel time itself.
Search range (Custom tools only)
By default, each search uses one departure or arrival time. A Search Range Width makes the tool consider every journey within a time window instead, up to 720 minutes. This only applies to public transport.
Isochrone returns the combined area of all those journeys.
H3 returns cells reachable by any of them.
Travel Time Matrix returns the fastest.
Range Results (Travel Time Matrix and Routes only) returns up to five alternative journeys per pair, fastest first, each as its own row with an alternative field (0 is the fastest).
Snapping
Snapping connects each location to the nearest road.
Parameter | What it does | Default |
Snapping Penalty | Whether the walk from the location to the road counts towards the journey | enabled |
Snapping Accept Roads | Whether locations can snap to motorways and other vehicle-only roads | both_drivable_and_walkable |
Snapping Threshold | Furthest a location can be from a usable road, in metres | 1000 |
Shape options (isochrones)
These control how isochrones are drawn. Remove Water Bodies also applies to the H3 tools and Data from Locations.
Parameter | What it does | Default |
Level of Detail and Detail Level | How detailed the shape is. Less detail is faster | simple, lowest |
Polygons Limit | Most polygons per isochrone, largest first | All |
Remove Holes | Fills holes in the shape, at some cost to accuracy | Off |
Render Mode | How the shape is drawn from reachable roads | approximate_time_filter |
Remove Water Bodies | Leaves out lakes, wide rivers and seas | On |
Example: ten locations around the San Francisco Bay Area
We start with 45-minute public transport isochrones around ten locations in the Bay Area, using Isochrone Custom with every common parameter left at its default.
Walking Time raised to 45 minutes. Every isochrone grows. A location with little public transport nearby, like the one in the hills at the top of the map, now reaches 45 minutes on foot instead of 15. Stops more than 15 minutes’ walk away also become usable, opening up new areas.
Walking Time back to 15 minutes, Search Range Width at 60. Without a search range, only journeys that leave at the exact time you set are counted. With a 60-minute search range, any journey that leaves within the following hour counts, as long as it takes 45 minutes or less. That catches services that run just after your start time, so the isochrones reach further along rail and bus routes.
Full details of every parameter are in the common parameters docs.