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How to filter locations by travel time in Alteryx
How to filter locations by travel time in Alteryx

Tutorial on filtering locations based on a maximum travel time with the Alteryx Reachable Points Filter macro.

Updated over a week ago

The Reachable Points Filter macro can be used to filter location data points into reachable and unreachable groups based on travel time, as well as calculating travel times and distances for all reachable points.

If you haven't already installed the macro, you can download it from the Alteryx Gallery here.

To use the macro, drag it onto an Alteryx workflow from the TravelTime Platform tab in the top navigation.

Next we need to connect to some input data. This can be done either by connecting to a file using the Input Data tool, or by entering data manually using the Text Input tool.

The input data needs to contain the four fields as a minimum:

1. Origin Latitudes

2. Origin Longitudes

3. Destination Latitudes

4. Destination Longitudes

If your location data is in the form of addresses (e.g Postcodes) and not lat-long coordinates, then you can use our Geocoder macro to make this conversion first, before using the Reachable Points Filter macro.

In the example below we begin with one file of 3,000 employee postcodes, and a text input of our office address. These are then converted into lat-long coordinates using the Geocoder macro, before being combined into a single file using the Append Fields tool:

workflow

To configure the macro you first need to enter your API key details in the Credentials tab of the tool configuration.

apikey

If you don't already have a TravelTime API key, you can get one for free here.

On the Configuration tab we select the fields in the input data that contain the Latitude and Longitude values for both the Origins and the Destinations, as well as whether we want to run an 'Arriving By' or 'Departing At' search.

The Isochrone Time is the travel time that will be used as the cut-off between reachable and unreachable points.

config1

As with the majority of the parameters in the TravelTime macros, the Isochrone Time can also be selected based on a field in the input data. For example, this would be perfect for a situation where different employees had different maximum commute times.

On the next tab, Basic, we choose the method(s) of transport (ticking multiple allows each point to be filtered based on different transport methods), and the date/time.

Selecting the Get Fare Data? tick-box will add public transport fare data to the macro output - this is only currently available in the UK.

config2

For an 'Arriving By' search, this date/time is the arrival time. For a 'Departing At' search, this date/time is the departure time.

Finally, the parameters in the Advanced tab can be used to fine-tune the analysis if required.

config3

These Advanced fields only apply to transport types that involve public transport. For a full explanation of what each field means, please see the documentation here.

In the macro output, a Reachable? Boolean field indicates which points are reachable within the chosen travel time, and which aren't. For all reachable points, a travel time will also be returned.

We can apply a filter to identify only those that are reachable or unreachable:

workflow2

For any records that cause an error, details of the error can be found in the Failure output anchor, including the Error Code and links to more information.

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