Explore transport and travel times

Use Transit Map to explore routes and stops, build a journey, view live vehicles, compare data sources, measure distances and see how far you can travel by public transport, on foot or by car.

1. Find your area. The map starts in New York City when the link does not specify a location. Drag and zoom, or use Search on larger screens to find another place.
2. Choose what to show. Select a Data layer in the left sidebar. Choose Map only for a background map without transport overlays.
3. Inspect a feature. Click a route, stop or PTAL area to open its details in the right sidebar.

Use the sidebars

The left sidebar controls data layers and filters, including the settings for Public transport travel areas. The right sidebar can show a selected feature and walking or driving areas together, in separate sections. Use the arrow on either sidebar to collapse or expand the entire panel and make room for the map.

Each result section in the right sidebar has its own heading arrow and cross. The heading arrow folds its content without removing the result. The cross closes that section: for Travel areas, it also removes the colored areas and their origin marker. Other result sections remain open.

Share the same view

Select Copy link above the Data layer menu, or copy the page address from your browser. It saves the map position, zoom, background, data layer and filter settings. Travel-area links also save the calculation settings: a point or polygon, direction, date and time for public transport, or a confirmed point, mode and travel time for walking and driving. Shopping mall demos include the selected mall and scenario settings. Opening a link restores the view and calculates the areas again.

To plan a journey in the area you are viewing, select Trip Planner in the page header. It opens at the same map center and zoom. For a route you have just built, use Open in Trip Planner in its result popup to carry over the starting point, destination and travel mode.

The screenshots show New York City and the shopping mall demos in the desktop layout. Available controls adapt to the screen size.

Move, zoom and change the background

Drag to move around. Use the + and - buttons at the right edge, your mouse wheel or a two-finger pinch to zoom. Open the map layer button beside the sidebar to choose a background such as Light, Dark, Gray, OpenStreetMap or satellite imagery. Changing the background or Data layer keeps your map position.

Select Your location to center the map on your position and allow location access when your browser asks. Open on other maps lets you view the current area in another map service. On desktop, right-click the map to copy a point's coordinates.

Build a route between two points

1. Choose how to travel. Select Build a route beside the sidebar, then choose Public transport, Driving or Walking.
2. Set the endpoints. Click the map to place origin A, then click a different point for destination B.
3. Read the result. The route appears on the map. Its popup shows the estimated travel time and distance.

While the route tool is active, click another destination to rebuild the route from A. To choose a new origin or travel mode, turn the tool off and start again. Select the route button again, or press Escape, to stop building routes and clear the preview.

If no route is available or the request fails, a red message appears. Try another destination. To cancel a completed route, select the popup's cross. This removes the route and A/B markers and turns off the route tool.

Find routes and nearby services

In layers that support route search, enter a route number or agency name under Find routes and select Show. Select a result to inspect it on the map.

To search around a place, set the radius in metres and select Show at center. On desktop, you can also right-click a point and choose Search routes in radius. Drag the search circle's center to move it, or its edge handle to change the radius. Use Reset map to leave the search results.

See live vehicles

Select Live vehicles (GPS) beside the sidebar to show vehicles where live position data is available. Zoom in for vehicle markers and click one to inspect the information supplied for it. At wider zoom levels, vehicles appear as dots.

The popup shows when the position was reported. GPS indicates a measured position; Estimated indicates a position derived from trip updates.

Live positions are available only where the transport provider supplies them. An empty view does not mean that no services are running.

Measure distance

Select the ruler button beside the sidebar. Click successive points on the map to draw a measured path, then double-click to finish. Drag a point to adjust the path. Select the ruler button again to remove the measurement.

Build walking or driving areas

A travel-time area, also called an isochrone, shows places you can reach from a selected point using the road and path network.

1. Choose a mode and time. Open Choose travel time, the map-and-clock button. Select the walking or car row for the default 10, 20 and 30-minute areas. For a single area, enter a whole number from 5 to 30 minutes in that row and select its checkmark.

2. Choose a point. Follow the message on the map and click your starting point. You can also select Use map center.

3. Confirm the point. Select Confirm in the popup. To move the point first, click elsewhere on the map. Cancel dismisses that point so you can choose another.

4. Read the result. The colored areas appear on the map, with an explanation and legend in the right sidebar. With the default times, the colors represent 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 minutes. A custom time produces one area.

Changing the Data layer keeps your travel areas. The Travel areas heading arrow folds its explanation and legend. The sidebar's outer arrow hides or shows all results without removing them. The cross beside Travel areas removes only the areas and origin marker. Driving estimates do not include live traffic.

Choose a data layer

Map only

Show the background map without route and stop overlays. Route building, live vehicles, travel areas and the distance ruler remain available.

Transit network

Explore BusMaps routes and stops. Use the transport-mode and frequency filters to narrow what appears. Zoom in for more detail, then click a feature to inspect it.

GTFS feeds

Explore routes and stops by their source feed. Search the feed list by name or ID and select the feeds you want to display.

WikiRoutes

Explore the WikiRoutes network on its own.

BusMaps + WikiRoutes

Show the two networks together. Click a route to inspect its available details.

PTAL - Transport accessibility

Compare access to nearby public transport using the accessibility scores explained below.

Public transport travel areas

Calculate where people can travel from a place, or where they can start to arrive there on time. Open the Public transport areas section of this guide for settings, results and shopping mall demos.

Read the transport filters

The mode colors identify routes such as buses, metro, trams and rail. Frequency categories distinguish Frequent, Regular, Local and Unknown services. Use the filters to show only the categories you need.

Accessible only includes agencies that explicitly supplied wheelchair accessibility information. Show stop-to-stop geometries displays connections between stops where no route alignment was supplied. Show problematic geometries includes route shapes flagged as potentially incorrect.

PTAL - Transport accessibility

PTAL describes access to public transport using walking time, service frequency and reliability. Select this layer and zoom in where data is available. Its legend runs from 1a to 6b; higher bands indicate better access.

Click an area to see its average PTAL score, Average Access Index and Access Index range in the right sidebar. These describe public transport access; they are separate from the walking and driving travel-time tool.

Public transport travel areas

A public transport travel area, also called an isochrone, shows where a journey can begin or end within a chosen time budget. It includes walking, waiting for services and transfers. The result depends on the timetable for your selected date and time.

1. Open the settings. Select Public transport travel areas in the Data layer menu. You can also choose Public transport from the map-and-clock toolbar menu.
2. Choose a direction. Leaving from here shows places you can reach after departing at the selected time. Getting here by shows places you can start from and still arrive at your destination by that time.
3. Set the date, time and budget. Enter local time at the selected place, then choose your maximum travel time and contour interval. The initial date and time default to next Monday at 09:00 unless the link supplies them.
4. Place a point. With Point selected, left-click the map to calculate immediately. Click elsewhere to move the point and run a new calculation.

Choose a point or draw an area

Use Point for an address or a single meeting place. Use Area for a site with several access points, such as a shopping mall. Choose Area and click at least 3 vertices around the site. Use Undo last point to correct the outline, then select Calculate travel areas. Draw area on map starts a new outline.

The polygon must fit within 1,000 x 1,000 m. Travel starts or ends along its boundary, not at every point inside it. Include the relevant surrounding access areas when drawing the outline. The mall demos provide ready-made examples.

Set the journey limits

Departure or arrival date and time

Enter local time at the selected place. The time zone is detected automatically; you can override it under More options. A weekday morning and a Sunday evening may have very different services.

Travel time budget

The maximum total journey time, from 0 to 120 minutes. The horizontal slider moves in steps matching the contour interval: with 15 min selected, choose 15, 30, 45 minutes and so on. A budget of 0 clears the result without sending a calculation.

Contour interval

The time between colored bands. A 60-minute budget with a 15-minute interval produces 0-15, 15-30, 30-45 and 45-60-minute bands. Choose One contour for a single area up to your budget; the slider then moves in 5-minute steps.

Max. transfers

Limit changes between public transport services. Select 0 (direct only) to exclude transfers. Walking to and from stops remains part of the journey.

More options

Adjust Max. walk in metres (2,000 m by default) and Walk speed in km/h (4.8 km/h by default). Leave Time zone empty for automatic detection, or enter a name such as America/New_York or Europe/London.

The question-mark buttons beside the settings explain each option. Changing a setting in the left sidebar clears the old result; select Calculate travel areas to apply it. Moving a point recalculates immediately. Clear removes the result and selected place. Switching to another Data layer removes the public transport travel areas.

Read the colors and results

Read each color against the legend: shorter journeys start in yellow, followed by green, blue and purple as travel time increases. The bands remain transparent so you can see the map underneath. With One contour, the legend shows a single time range.

No added area means that the calculation returned the same outline as an earlier time band. More time did not produce any additional reachable area in that result, so there is no extra colored ring to show. This can happen when the available services or walking limits do not extend the journey.

Reachable stops is the number of stops reached by the calculation. Response time includes server work and the time to receive and read the response over the network; it is not a separate measurement of server calculation time. Select Fit map to results to see the full extent of the areas.

Explore the shopping mall demos

Select Start demo above the map. The demo panel opens at the top and the left sidebar folds away. There are 10 examples: 8 in New York City and its surrounding region, 1 in Los Angeles and 1 in London.

1. Choose a mall. Use the left and right arrows or the Demo 1 / 10 selector. The map flies to the selected site, fills in its polygon and time zone, and calculates the travel areas. Each card includes a photo, a location and a US or UK flag.
2. Compare arrival and departure. Morning arrival shows where customers can come from to arrive by opening time. Evening departure shows where customers and staff can get to after closing time. The card displays that day's opening hours and a Google hours source link.
3. Try another date or time. Monday, Saturday and Sunday choose the next occurrence of that day. You can also choose a date directly. Changing the date uses the corresponding opening or closing time; edit Arrive by or Depart at to explore a different time, such as a customer's evening departure.
4. Compare journey budgets. Move Travel time in the demo panel. Changes to the mall, scenario, date, time or budget recalculate automatically. More options opens the left sidebar for the remaining settings.

Inspect the mall boundary

Select View mall site to zoom in on the selected polygon. Demo outlines include the mall, mapped parking and adjacent access areas. They are approximate campus boundaries based on OpenStreetMap, and the calculation uses their edges. Select Fit travel areas to return to the full result.

Open About this demo for the boundary sources and information about the regular weekly hours. Individual stores and holiday opening times can differ. The photo credit and license are linked below each photo. Close the demo card with its cross to return to the left sidebar while keeping the selected place and result.

Share a calculation or demo

The page address updates with the layer name and your selected options. Select Copy link above the Data layer menu, or copy the browser address while the demo is open. The link includes the point, polygon or mall, direction, date, local time, journey limits and map view.

Opening the link restores those choices and calculates again. It shares the settings, not a saved image of the result: updated timetables can change the areas shown later.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I not see routes or stops?

Check the Data layer first: Map only intentionally hides transport overlays. Otherwise, zoom in and review the mode, frequency and feed filters. Data availability varies by area.

How do I reset the map?

Reset filters restores the transport filter settings. Reset map leaves route-search results. Turn off Build a route to clear its preview. To remove walking or driving areas, use the cross beside Travel areas in the right sidebar. For Public transport travel areas, use Clear in the left sidebar.

How do I cancel a built route?

Select the popup's cross, select Build a route again or press Escape. Each turns off the tool and removes the route and its A/B markers.

Why can I not see live vehicles?

Enable Live vehicles (GPS), then move or zoom to an area with live position coverage. Not every provider supplies live vehicle positions.

Why are there three walking or driving colors?

The default walking or driving calculation shows separate 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30-minute bands. Enter a custom time between 5 and 30 minutes to show just one area. Public transport travel areas use your selected budget and contour interval instead.

Why is a travel-time area unavailable?

For walking and driving, the point needs a reachable road or path in the calculation data; try a nearby street or path. For public transport, also check the local date and time: timetable coverage and available services vary. If the calculation reports that no timetables are available, choose another date. If the service is temporarily unavailable, retry the calculation.

Why do some public transport bands have no visible color?

If the legend says no added area, the calculation returned an unchanged outline for that time band. No additional ring is drawn. Read the colors and results in the Public transport areas section for details.

Does collapsing a sidebar remove my areas?

No. Collapsing either sidebar keeps the result. The cross beside Travel areas removes a walking or driving result; Clear removes a public transport result. Switching to another Data layer removes public transport travel areas.

Can I send someone the same calculation?

Select Copy link above the Data layer menu to share the map and its settings. Public transport travel areas include your point, polygon or shopping mall demo, date, time and calculation options. The recipient's map calculates the areas again. For an A-to-B route, use Open in Trip Planner in the result popup and share that page's address.

Does missing wheelchair information mean a service is inaccessible?

No. Accessible only filters for explicitly supplied accessibility information; missing data does not prove a service is inaccessible.

Can I use the transport data in an application?

See API plans for application access, or connect an AI agent through MCP.